Campaign launched to save much loved Peterborough family and play centre from closure

The team behind the New Ark Play Centre have launched a fundraising page to try and raise £50,000 to keep the centre open, after council funding was cut.

Jo Curphey, Chair of the New Ark Committee urged the council to re-think their decision to cut funding. She said: ‘The inability to fundraise throughout the Covid pandemic, the energy crisis, plus the loss of the councils funding has overwhelmed us. If we are forced to close, the impact on the community, especially on vulnerable children and adults will be incomprehensible. Many will lose out on development opportunities and stimulation that no one else within Cambridgeshire provides. We hope the council reverses its position and the community get behind us to Save New Ark and its 40-year legacy for future generations.”

In 2018, The Peterborough Telegraph reported the centre was having funding reduced over a series of years, In 2018 it was receiving £33,000 from the council - but that was reduced by £11,000 each year until 2020/21, when it would receive £11,000.

MORE: Funding reduced for Peterborough adventure playground and farm

On their fundraising page, the centre says that all funding is now being withdrawn by the council.

The centre has been providing a vital service for Peterborough families for four decades, years.

The support service offers provision for up to sixty children in a year who experience social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties from around twenty different schools in the area. By attending New Ark Play, the children are helped to manage their feelings in a positive way, through hands on activities in the Eco Centre, the Adventure Playground, and the City Farm. The New Ark Holiday Play Sessions can keep up to ninety children throughout a year, entertained, energised, and active. They too benefit from access to the farm and the outside adventure playground.

The After School Play Sessions provide an invaluable service to working parents for up to thirty children each evening, twenty-four of whom are escorted from the school to New Ark each evening, ensuring that they are safe and protected from danger.

The Preschool Play Group cares for up to forty children at any one time. The centre provides a stimulating environment to provide care and education of children from two years nine months onwards, with emphasis on their health, development, and learning.

The City Farm has housed up to eighty-five guests at any time. Everything from turkeys, pigs, sheep, ducks, guinea pigs, and ponies are rescued and lovingly cared for at the facility every day of the year.

An army of volunteers (over a thousand sessions per year) help keep the farm going, supporting cleaning, feeding, maintenance and care of the animals. Many of these volunteers suffer with emotional or mental health issues.

New Ark Play has supported education across the community by providing training in animal care for up to sixty students each year from both Peterborough and Stamford Colleges in addition to young people and adults through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the Princes Trust.

To donate to the fundraiser visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-new-ark

As well as public donations (which will be gratefully received), if you are a local business owner, the managing director of a national company or a retail store manager and would like support New Ark Play in a substantial way, please email [email protected]

The Peterborough Telegraph has contacted leader of Peterborough City Council cllr Wayne Fitzgerald for comment.