Children and parents are celebrating the fantastic news that the Big Lottery Fund is giving £103,000 for a new park in Old Cwmbran.

The Friends of Cwmbran Park, a group of volunteers, have led the project for over year and have been talking to Torfaen Council, local children and residents to get their support.

Cwmbran Life reported last December that the group had put in for the grant and were keeping everything crossed.

The letter arrived last week to tell them the good news  and it has been announced on the Big Lottery Fund website.

The money will be pay for new play equipment as well as picnic tables and benches to encourage families to use the park.

The equipment will be installed and maintained by Torfaen Council.

Carl Touhig, from the Friends of Cwmbran Park said: “This is fantastic news for families in Cwmbran. The park has real potential but it is hardly used at the moment and there is nothing for children to play on. 

“We know that there is a huge appetite to see it brought back into use, and to have somewhere safe for children to play. We have been asking local children about what they would like to see in the park and their ideas will be fed into the final design.

“Local communities deserve to have facilities like these but we can’t expect the council to do everything for us. It’s not been easy getting this funding but a lot of people in the community play the lottery every week and I hope the park will be seen as jackpot win for everyone.”

Councillor John Cunningham, executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “The Friends of Cwmbran Park have done an excellent job in securing this funding and they have spoken to more than 1000 local residents about what they would like to see in the park.

 Work will shortly start on the project and I hope that the park will once again become a destination that the whole family can enjoy.”