Children in a Chronicle Country village have received an early Christmas present after their park swings were stolen.
Hope Construction Materials decided to spread some festive cheer to Roxton children and parents by carrying out a fundraising project to pay for a new set of swings.
After hearing about the theft, Hope, which operates the nearby Black Cat Quarry, got in touch with Roxton Parish Council to see if it could help.
The company visited the park to hand over a cheque to parish council chairman John Greenwood to cover the difference between the insurance pay-out and the required funds for buying and installing a good quality replacement swing set.
In addition, Hope has offered the services of its own skilled team to help with the park gate and improving security at the site.
Councillor Greenwood said: “‘After the despicable theft of the swings that we had scrimped and saved to buy, we were further disappointed when the insurance cover would only address direct replacement of the stolen swings, and not the cost of making the site good and making repairs to the surrounding area.
“As such we thought we’d have to defer the replacement until well into 2015 - that is until Hope Construction Materials kindly stepped in with a very generous offer to bridge the shortfall in funds.”
He added that time the council plans to install some new security and CCTV equipment to deter thieves in the future.
Hope’s regional operations manager for the south, James Ayo, said: “It is important to us to find ways to get involved in the local community and with Roxton very close to our Black Cat site, and the council having just experienced this crime, we felt it was a great project to support. We are now looking forward to seeing the new swings installed and the local children once again enjoying the park.”