Staveley raises thousands for playground with Easter egg hunt

Staveley hosted the event on Saturday for the final fundraising push to complete works on its play area, which was closed due to safety concerns in October.

The village was within £10,000 of its original £120,000 fundraising target, with the first phase of works already underway.

Read more: Easter Bunny hops to village's rescue with egg-citing event for playground fund

But thanks to the efforts of businesses, volunteers and keen egg hunters, the village is £3,500 closer to achieving its target.

And there will be an opportunity to raise more cash with an auction of the 30 giant Easter eggs that were hidden for participants to find.

Organisers said they managed to sell 500 maps and they believe more than 1,500 people were in attendance on the day.

“It surpassed our expectations,” said Kate Fawcett, from Staveley Village Association.

“When you take into account wider family there must have been over 1,500 people in Staveley on Saturday for it.

“The money is one thing for the park, however, what meant more, was that the village was so ready for something like this after lockdown.

“And everyone was brimming with excitement, and we got really positive feedback.

“People really enjoyed it.”

And Ms Fawcett said the community is excited for the event to return next year.

“It was something that the whole community could get involved with and everybody contributed to the event’s success, from people painting the eggs, businesses sponsoring the eggs, people volunteering on the day and people attending,” she said.

“It was a community effort.

“We’ll definitely be back next year.”

Among the organisations involved was the Women’s Institute which ran a cake and refreshments stall.

And Stuart Hann, owner of the Blind Chocolatier, donated a handcrafted egg that raised £500 through a raffle.

The egg route had also been approved by the Easter bunny himself after he visited the village to inspect the work carried out to the playground so far.