A PROJECT to upgrade a Galashiels playground has secured a spot in the final round of a national competition.

‘Glendinning Play For All’ has reached the last round of the Aviva Community Fund competition and is in the running to receive a cash boost of up to £10,000.

The project to purchase new equipment for the playground at Glendinning Terrace Primary School got 3,543 public votes during the first round of the competition in November.

This was enough to bag them a £500 prize and a spot on the shortlist, which could see them awarded up to £10,000.

The project was one of only 60 of the 460 projects in the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ category to win a spot in the next round, which will see a judging panel award the funds.

The final winners are due to be announced at the end of the month.

The Aviva Community Fund competition offers projects from across the UK the chance to get funding for important community causes.

‘Glendinning Play For All’ want to provide access to play equipment for the Glendinning community. According to the project’s proposal, the nearest play park is a small one in a private housing development over a mile away from many of the children’s homes and involves walking along the A7 or through woodland to get there.

Glendinning Terrace Primary School’s parent council are running the project and say that it will provide residents with access to play facilities outside of school times and be inclusive of all children in the community, including those with additional needs.

Karen Currie from Glendinning Terrace Primary School PTA said: “We’ve applied for an Aviva grant to provide musical and sensory equipment for the playground and some balance and coordination equipment too.

“The site’s quite small so we have to get the best value for our money and we’re in the process of involving the children in what kinds of equipment they would like and, as it’s a community project, further down the line we will be publishing plans for the community to have the final say on what we provide for our children.”