Milton Parish Council has recognised the huge value of Milton Country Park to the village and awarded an extraordinary grant of £10,000 to help the Park stay open in these tough times.
280 people have also donated over £9,000 on the Milton Country Park Crowdfunder page to help the Park stay open, and there are some really warm and grateful comments left by donors on that website, well worth a read. The Park is helping a lot of people to relax and unwind during this lockdown. Last week South Cambs District Council also gave a grant.
The Park gets no regular funding from the councils and having closed for safety on Mothers Day, for the last couple of months it has had no income. In normal times they collect car parking fees and some income from the cafe in the park. Grounds Cafe is now open for takeaways and ice-creams, and with the car park open things are starting to return to normal. However, the extensive range of water-sports, Parkrun, cycling, outdoor children’s parties, the Wild Place, and other group events cannot yet get going. And there will be no large mass gatherings for theatre events, outdoor cinema, concerts or the Autumn festival which are their main fundraising events.
Milton Parish Council received an unexpected cash payment last year when a historic anomaly was sorted out. The Parish Chairman Don Wildman said, “We don’t normally support charities but we are pleased to be able to help Milton Country Park through this situation at no cost to our taxpayers by using some of this money.” District Cllr Hazel Smith said, “We really appreciate the Park just now: Milton Country Park is one of the best things about living in Milton.”