A GROUP of villagers are to pay tribute to a much-loved and sadly-missed member of their community by building a new children’s play area after winning a £25,000 national award.

Sue Handford pledged to renovate the current worn-out space and create a new play area as a tribute to Claire Townsend, who was manager of St Tudy Pre-school until she passed away suddenly earlier this year.

St Tudy Playing Field Trust was awarded the money by financial services company OneFamily as part of its Community Awards.

The funds will be used to replace the current out of date playground with new play equipment with accessibility at the heart of the playground.

The St Tudy Playing Field Trust also plan to create a vegetable patch and wildlife garden, where local pre-schoolers and primary school pupils can grow their own fruit and veg and learn about nature.

Villagers said they hoped the playground at St Tudy Playing Field would be a fitting way to remember mother-of-four Claire, who was a good friend to many in the area and is already much missed.

Sue, family friend and fundraiser for the St Tudy Playing Field Trust, said: “Claire loved children, and dedicated her life to making sure that their lives were filled with fun and laughter. I made the application as it’s vital that children can easily access outdoor activities, and it’s great to know that it will have a positive impact on their lives.

“We thought updating our village playground would be a fitting tribute to Claire and her family. It will provide a place where children of all ages from across our community can play for many years to come.

“We couldn’t have done this without Jeremy Northcott, who was secretary and leading light of the Playing Field Trust. Jeremy passed away recently. I wanted to acknowledge his help and support in securing this funding.

“I am also very grateful to OneFamily for giving us this wonderful opportunity and helping our community.”

Claire’s husband Dan Townsend said: “My family and I would like to thank everyone that took the time to vote for St Tudy playground. Claire was a wonderful mother to our four children, was very family orientated and loved her job working with children. She would be honoured to have this play area dedicated in her memory, and all of our family are incredibly grateful.”

The awards are part of the OneFamily Foundation and were created to give OneFamily customers the opportunity to support projects in their area that matter to them and their families. This year’s awards saw customers nominating projects to win £5,000, £10,000 or £25,000 across four categories.