AVELEY Village Community Foundation have been praised by Thurrrock Council's leader, who has bolted their achievement in improving a local facility onto his showcase civic pride campaign - even though he got their name wrong and the money put forward was approved by the previous council administration.

He was quoted in a council press release today saying the council have teamed up to deliver upgrades to the skate park at Aveley Recreation Park.

New ramps and other improvements allow skaters and scooter riders to enjoy even more daring and challenging activities, with additional features to help them test and develop their skills.

Identifying the problems and the work requuired for improvement has been a goal of the village-based Foundation for several years.

Over that time they have worked assiduously to fund the project and found a willing supporter in Essex Police who have made a significant contribution to the costs.,

A major boost came in September 2023 when the Foundation secured a £10,000 grant from the Community Safety Development Fund run by the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex..

Getting the project over the line required more funding and work by the Foundation's volunteers but they hit their target wit confirmation of council support early last year.

Their reward was a public message today (Friday, 18 September) from Reform council leader Cllr Richard Bingley, who managed to name the wrong organisation, initially naming the Aveley Community Forum.

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The amended council news release.

However, an almost completely corrected release now says: "These improvements have made the skate park better than ever and will provide more fun and excitement for everyone who uses it.

"The improvements have been made possible through collaboration between the council and Aveley Community Forum (sic), combining funding secured through a planning approval with additional funding from the forum.

"It just shows that when the council and community work together, we can create meaningful change and deliver improvements that matter to our residents."

The Forum raised £1,000 under its own steam and the council contributed a final £9,000 to ensure the improvements happened, though the money was commited last year by the previous council administration.