Children who attend the Community Connections Inc early learning and child care centre have a large new playground, and lots of new equipment to play with thanks to community support.
Ruth Love, board member with the centre said the playground area, just south of the building in which the centre is located, is City-owned land.
"We have leased the property from the City," said Love, adding they actually ended up with a larger area than they had initially hoped for.
With a large outdoor area secured Love said they needed dollars to purchase playground equipment. She said businesses and groups came through early with $20,000 in donations, $9,500 coming from the Access Communication Children's Fund, $7,500 from the Painted Hand Community Development Corporation and $2,000 from Imperial Oil.
Love said while Community Connections is government licensed, they do not receive direct funding for their centre from the provincial government.
"We rely on community support," she said,The community donations have allowed the centre to start their play-area project."
"We've created a very large play space," said Love, adding the work to-date is being looked at as Phase I, with more room available to expand the play space, and plans to add more play equipment as funds are available. "We're pretty proud of what we've done."
The play area includes an in-hill slide, tepee, covered sand box and other equipment, said Love, adding the area is designed so children can utilize imaginative play, using blankets to build forts and similar ideas.
"For us it's what you bring into the play area," she said. " It's about bringing out things that interest you."
In the future, a Phase II, would include flower beds, and trees.
The play area is used jointly by the 50 children at Community Connections, as well as with those youth attending the Yorkton First Steps Aboriginal Head Start Program, which shares the same building.
