A GENEROUS grant has transformed a tired and rundown playground into a colourful and imaginative space.

Children at Defford Cum Besford CE First School, near Pershore, can now make the most of a range of new and exciting equipment after the school received £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund for the Defford Outdoor Play project.

The school also received extra funding from a grant received from the Rowlands Trust and a generous donation from their Friends’ Association, while the committee of parents raised £2,000 to extend the project to include class planters, games boards and netball posts.

Headteacher Andrea Bailey said: "We will be showing off our new school improvements during our open day from 1pm to 3pm on Friday, June 20.

"We very much welcome visitors to our school, and would be delighted for new faces to come along and see our school in action.

"Come and see how we use our outside space, including our very popular forest school, which is used to enhance our curriculum for all children throughout the school."

The Bishop of Dudley, reverend Graham Usher, officially opened the playground on Thursday, June 12 and it will also be used by the weekly Mini-Maples baby and toddler group and the school's out of hours childcare club.