Sunday 22nd October, saw the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Al Garthwaite officially open a new playground at Chapel Allerton Park; one that was part-funded by The Lodge of Dawn via a grant from the West Riding Masonic Charity Community Fund, as reported on here back in June.
The ‘ChapelAPlay’ project began when a group of local mums, Laura Butterworth, Beth Liddle and Laura Barnett, met with a shared goal of raising funds to improve the playground in Chapel Allerton Park.
As the playground had not been updated for many years, they wanted to promote multi-generational play and focus on equipment that can be shared so children of all ages and abilities could play together. The new playground was designed following feedback gathered from local park users together with advice from Leeds City Council’s Parks & Countryside Department and Kompan Playground Equipment Suppliers.
The Chapel Allerton Councillors helped fund the scheme from their Ward Members’ section 106 fund and Inner North East Community Committee Wellbeing funds. Along with a grant of £4,500 sponsored by The Lodge of Dawn (which covered the toddler playhouse and truck), a number of other local organisations and businesses also supported the scheme including Wade’s Charity, Veolia, Co-Op Local Causes Fund, local software company iThink 365 and Fowler & Powell Estate Agents who organised a ‘Pay As You Feel Pizza Night’.
ChapelAPlay originally contacted The Lodge of Dawn to request a grant having seen news of a previous grant for £30,000 for Meanwood Park playground. The grant ChapelAPlay submitted was to cover the cost of equipment that, due to increased costs, had to be removed from the original plan.
In total just under £100,000 has now been invested in the playground which now has new swings, play houses and a climbing unit for children to enjoy.
Speaking at the Playground’s Opening event, Councillor Mohammed Rafique (Labour, Chapel Allerton) said, “we’d like to thank Laura Butterworth, Beth Liddle and Laura Barnett, for their passion and dedication to their local area, along with Leeds City Council’s Parks and Countryside Staff and all the partners and local residents who have come together to support this project.”
Laura Butterworth, ChapelAPlay, said, “We are so excited and proud to see the final result of a lot of hard work. We want to thank The Lodge of Dawn and everyone that has supported us along the way and we really hope the community enjoys it!”
“We’d like to thank all the members of the lodge especially Simon Fellerman who originally made contact with us and Michael Rose who gave us so much help and guidance with our application. I think they both saw the result of the grant when they visited the opening event and how this money has completely transformed a once dated playground.”
A spokesperson for The Lodge of Dawn said, “charitable giving is a key part of masonic life. We are delighted to see our funds being used for something that supports our local community – we have members who live round the corner and who use the park. I would also like to take this opportunity to put it out there that if anyone reading this works for, knows of or simply is connected to a charity based in the North Leeds area please get in touch and we would be pleased to consider your cause for financial grant.”
See pictures below from the opening ceremony;
Charitable giving is a key part of masonic life. You can read more about The Lodge of Dawn’s charitable activity here.
If you are a Leeds-based charity and are interested in applying for a grant, please see our simple guide here.
Joining The Lodge of Dawn
If you are not a Freemason and, having read the above, would like to find out more, read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons, our guide on ‘How to join The Freemasons‘ or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ page.
And if you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.