Moray Sports Centre gets set to welcome families to all-abilities playpark on reopening day
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MORAY Sports Centre will welcome local families to its colourful new all-abilities playpark – the first of its kind in the north-east – when it reopens this month.
Plans for the playpark at the £12 million centre, which opened in Elgin's Linkwood Road in July last year, were set in motion nearly two years ago. The equipment was ordered as lockdown came but progress was hampered by Covid-19 closures.
However, the site was completed two weeks ago and will be open to play-goers when the charity-run sports centre reopens on Monday, August 31.
Designed to be fully accessible so that people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses can play alongside able-bodied peers, the site boasts a swing, sunken trampoline and ground-level roundabout, all of which can take wheelchair-users as well as able-bodied children. Other attractions include a mini-slide with a puzzle board, and chimes that can be struck with hammers to make melodies.
Non-members are welcome to use the park, which can accommodate up to 18 at one time.
The Moray Sports Centre team hopes the playpark will become a popular outdoor meeting place for families.
As part of this, it has launched a fundraiser to set up picnic tables around the site, with a target of £800. The tables will be made by a local volunteer who is charging only for materials.
Kathryn Evans, Moray Sports Centre chief executive, said: "We went to the community nearly two years ago to ask what they would like to see in an inclusive playpark – the likes of which doesn't exist in Moray at present.
"We pitched for Leader funding of just over £50,000 for the playpark as part of our ethos to be the most inclusive sports centre. This was successful as they agreed this was something that would benefit the local community."
The complex is ahead of the game in its preparations to reopen next Monday in line with Scottish Government guidance.
Despite the lockdown, the centre has been fighting fit through offering online classes.
Measures now being put in place include restricted timetables, extra hygiene measures and new rules. And for the first two weeks, access will be restricted to members only.
Mrs Evans added: "Sports centres in England and Wales are already open so we have been watching closely, learning from their experience and planning for our return.
"We've had staff in training, we've been testing our procedures, and we're confident we can open safely with plenty of space for social distancing."
Meanwhile, local woman Maureen Halket, owner of Unique Ladieswear in Lossiemouth, has donated masks for the sports centre's staff. Her shop operated as "Scrubs HQ" in the town during lockdown as volunteers stitched scrubs for hospital staff.
To donate to the sports centre's picnic tables fundraiser, click here .
