FRIENDS of Trowbridge Park have been celebrating this week after bagging £12,000 from Tesco.

The money was donated through the Bags of Help initiative which saw FoTP come out on top to win the money£12k, collected through the national 5p carrier bag levy.

The cash will be put towards improving the area that joins the park to Biss Meadows by installing new information boards, improving the sense of safety and security and making the area more welcoming for visitors.

Sharl Adabashi, FoTP chairman, said he was extremely thankful to Trowbridge people who voted for the group to win the maximum amount of money.

He added: “To have that backing from the community and Tesco customers is overwhelming because of the big vote and I just want to say thank you to everyone for their support.

“The whole thing is really about informing visitors, especially those who go to Tesco, that on their doorstep, there is the facility of two huge attractions in the form of Biss Meadows and Trowbridge Town Park.

“We will achieve that through information boards and we are also hoping to get an archway at the Tesco side so people know exactly where to go to and it is about improving security by removing hedgerows and thinning trees to allow more light in the area."

“There will also be an improvement on the railing and we hope to invite members of the community to do artwork on them to represent the flora and fauna that can be found here."

“The project is really reminding people what we have in the park as some people say they have never known what exists and so things like this is increasing the profile of what Trowbridge is about. I am tired of people knocking the town and people saying there is nothing to offer and I want to show them this area and this project to show there is plenty to offer.”

It is hoped that work will start in the next few months.