APPLETON villagers desperate for a new playground have shown Olympic spirit despite a funding setback from the Government.

The commmunity is pulling together to raise £100,000 to give its children somewhere in the village to play.

The hopes were potentially dashed in July when the cash-strapped Department for Education froze a grant of £47,000 it had promised.

However, that has not dampened the villagers’ determination.

Last Sunday, they turned out for an Appleton Olympics playground fundraiser — complete with welly wanging, space hopper racing and a rounders tournament.

A hotly contested pub tug-of-war between The Plough, Appleton, and rivals The Eight Bells, from Eaton, was won by the Appleton regulars.

The Appleton with Eaton Playground with Recreation Area Group was set up a year ago to head the drive for new facilities.

Group member and mother-of-three Becky Bradbrook said: “Sunday was really brilliant. Lots of people turned out from the village and the help we had from volunteers was amazing.”

Children have already helped draw up designs for the new play area that will have equipment for younger kids and an area for older ones to chill out with friends.

And the group has earmarked a site for the equipment on a field in Badswell Lane it would lease from a farmer.

Work was due to start when the Department for Education froze its grant in July.

Mrs Bradbrook said the idea of a play area had been widely supported by families in a village questionnaire that asked what facilities people wanted.

She said that although the village hall provided a good indoor space, there were no outdoor play facilities for children.

Mrs Bradbrook said: “We are trying to provide somewhere for mums to walk to without using a car and somewhere for teenagers to meet and chat with friends.”

The group hopes the area could include a village vegetable plot, comfortable seating and a barbecue pitch.

Sovereign Vale Housing Association donated £5,000 and the Appleton community shop gave £1,000.

Mrs Bradbrook said the village was still waiting for news from the Government, but was pushing ahead with its own fundraising efforts.

She added: “We are hoping to build it in phases and we are applying for more funding all the time.”