A fundraising weekend has raised £1,000 to help pay for a now officially opened village playground.
The fundraiser at the Martinstown Village Hall was to help top up a £10,000 National Lottery grant used to improve the village playground, which was officially re-opened when the village children cut the ribbon.
They raised £1,000, half of the £2,000 VAT they are fundraising to cover, although they also hope to raise an additional £1,000 for other miscellaneous costs.
The aim of the improvements has been to make the playground friendlier for younger children such as toddlers, and to put an emphasis on imaginative play, with new additions such as a crawl tube and a play shop.
The playground was opened with a blessing from the vicar of St Mary's using a water gun to bless the equipment.
Jan Griffiths the Chair of the Village Hall said: "We were lucky enough to get grant from the National Lottery but need to top it up to cover the VAT!
"We had people from all over come to the event, it was very well attended and lots of fun, the dog fancy dress was a personal favourite.
"It was an event with a real villagey feel to it and lots of cake."
The group that put together the fundraiser are the Playground Improvement Group 2 (PIG 2) - the original PIG in 1994 were responsible for the original construction of the playground.
Jan Griffiths added: "P.I.G. 2 has taken on the challenge of upgrading our popular playground by putting in equipment for younger children to enjoy.
"The original P.I.G. turned a bare and rather scruffy patch of land into a playground in 1994 – one memorable fundraising activity saw a brave villager sitting in a trough of baked beans in South Street, Dorchester and there was also the never-to-be-forgotten Builder's Bum competition!"
A memorial stone for the original event was placed with a memory capsule buried underneath.
There was a music from local singer/songwriter Bob Whitely and Lee MacKenzie, and the fun dog show featuring events such as an egg and spoon race and fancy dress.
There are plans to hold additional fundraising events over the summer to cover the rest, although nothing concrete as of yet.
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