Kubby House Childcare Centre’s outdoor area will receive a facelift, all driven by the hard working committee volunteers.
In recent years the condition of the outdoor play area has deteriorated, prompting the committee to pursue upgrade plans.
As a community-based incorporated not-for- profit organisation Kubby House is not heavily government-funded and relies on fundraising for improvements to their facilities.
Committee members Carly Hunter and Tanya Gilbert detailed the planned improvements to The Cobar Weekly, saying the work will be done in stages.
Initial work will focus on making the outdoor play area bigger by altering the fence-line, laying more suitable turf and installing an automatic sprinkler system to water lawns and lessen the burden on volunteer gardeners.
“Kubby has always relied on the work of volunteers to come in and water the lawn, and prune and maintain the garden beds,” Mrs Gilbert said.
The expanded outdoor area will accommodate a children’s ‘chill out zone’ as well as a new bike track.
MPREC (Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation) have made and donated raised garden beds to be placed near the bike track where children will be involved with growing their own vegetables and flowers.
Funding from the Intermine Golf Challenge has enabled the committee to also order a new sand pit cover.
The sand pit will be freshened and the new cover will help keep the area cleaner.
The Kubby House committee is also applying for grants to fund the replacement of softfall around the play equipment.
Mrs Gilbert said the replacement was necessary after the removal of the older fort-style play equipment, which was not suitable for all children at the centre.
Once the softfall has been installed the area will be used for moveable equipment which can be changed each day to provide variety.
The entire project is expected to cost around $26,000 with the first stage to be completed by the end of the year.
Mrs Gilbert said the upgrades aim to offer children something they don’t have access to at home.
“We want the children to be excited to go to Kubby and have new experiences with the bike track and sand pit,” Mrs Gilbert said.
Stage one is being funded mostly by the fundraising levy included in the centre’s fees.
“We are focusing on sustainable long term projects and investing the money smartly,” Mrs Hunter said.
