A GROUP from St Tudy will 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.

Claire Townsend was the manager of St Tudy Pre-school until she passed away suddenly earlier this year. Sue Hanaford pledged to renovate the current worn-out space in the village and create a new play area in her memory.

She made an application on behalf of the St Tudy Playing Field Trust for £25,000, and was awarded funding by the financial services company OneFamily, as part of its ‘Community Awards’.

The awards were part of the OneFamily Foundation and were created to give 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 £5,00, £10,000 or £25,000 across four categories.

The funds received will be used to replace the current out of date playground with new play equipment with accessibility at the heart of the playground.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 plans to create a vegetable patch and wildlife garden, where local pre-schoolers and primary school pupils can grow their own fruit and vegetables and learn about nature in a hands on way.

Villagers have said they hope 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.

Sue, family friend and fundraiser for the St Tudy Playing Field Trust who applied for the funding, 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 St Tudy playground project was one of 32 organisations to have won an award in this latest round and one of four to win the maximum award of £25,000.

Guy French, corporate and customer strategy director at OneFamily, said: “I’ve been very moved to see the overwhelming support for this project, which will be a fantastic tribute to Claire’s life and achievements. I was also very sorry to hear about Jeremy.

“As this project shows, our Community Awards support organisations that our customers care about, making a positive difference to their local communities. The OneFamily Foundation is a way that we give something back to our customers, and each year we give hundreds of thousands of pounds to causes that matter to them most.”