Friends of Hopwood Park receives £750 from Councillor Ray Dutton towards cabin renovation

The Friends of Hopwood Park received £750 from the former Mayor Ray Dutton and his wife Elaine

The Friends of Hopwood Park have received £750 from Councillor Ray Dutton and his wife, Elaine, towards the Hopwood Cabin project.

Chairwoman of the Friends, Sandra Trickett, said: “A huge thank you from The Friends of Hopwood Park to Councillor Ray Dutton and his wife Elaine, our previous Mayor and Mayoress, who have kindly donated £750 from The Mayor of Rochdale's Charity Fund. This will be a great help with the bus shelter renovation project.”

Work to convert the derelict bus shelter to a café and community hub is well underway. So far, cracks in the external brick work have been cleaned, fixed and pointed and the cabin is now dry inside after receiving a new fibreglass roof. New guttering and fascia boards have also been installed.

The cabin, which reopened for business on Saturday 24 June, still requires internal structure work, a total rewire and replumb, new windows and shutters, internal plastering and kitchen installation. Sandra is aiming to have the cabin finished in time for winter 2018.

Ms Trickett added: “I would love to have it done by the end of next summer, ready for the winter of 2018. It's ambitious, but it's a goal.”

The first phase of landscaping work, funded by a £12,000 grant from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, began in mid-June to define and enhance the space around the cabin with a picnic area and new paths to improve disabled access.

The landscaping is expected to be completed by the end of June.

The Friends have also been awarded a grant of £1,000 from Forever Manchester Comic Relief Community Cash Fund to provide free and low-cost children’s activities at the park over the summer.

Details of the activities will be published on the Rochdale Online events page when available.