Reporter Rachel Sharp writes about her experiences in Poland where she helped police volunteers build playground equipment for a school.

CHILDREN at Zespotszkot school in Sokolow, Poland, clambered excitedly over their new playground equipment following a special opening ceremony.

Police officers and volunteers from Ruislip completed their project in just three days to build the adventure playground for the Met charity Convoy 2000.

The team spent last Wednesday cementing in the rest of the playground. It was washed down after its long journey from England, and then given a bright coat of paint by all the volunteers. Holes were drilled in old car tyres, and then the tyres were bolted together in another part of the playground for children to jump through. A group of local village boys joined in with the team, helping to put the tyres together.

Other children watched with anticipation from the windows as the playground equipment slowly went up. Dave Burgum and Cheryl Carroll chopped logs for stepping stones, and sunk them into the ground, and big holes were dug for the up and over frame for children to jump on and off. The frame was cemented in place and varnished.

The following day, with all the equipment finally in place, the mammoth task of painting the playground to spruce it up began.

Children watched from the windows in excitement as the team climbed all over the slide and frame with paintbrushes, trying desperately to get it all painted before the rain came down.

It was all finished by Wednesday evening, and the following morning a special ceremony was laid on to mark the opening of the new playground.

Hundreds of children gathered excitedly in the playground. Four children dressed in traditional costume were presented to the team, who were all given a book about the Sokolow region of Poland.

The Mayor of Sokolow, Stanislaw Ozog, cut the ribbon across the adventure playground and thanked the team for all their hard work.

He told the Times: "We have been very happy to welcome you to our town, and we have seen how hard you have worked on the playground. The children love it already and have been talking about it all week. Even though it was not ready until today, already this playground is famous in Sokolow."

Headteacher Grazyna Mayka was the first down the slide with team leader Inspector Dave Burgum when the playground was opened. She said: "We would like to thank everybody for their hard work. The playground is wonderful and all the children have been very excited. We have been so happy to have you here helping us, and we know the children will get so much use from the playground you have made for us.

"You have done the biggest thing for the smallest people."

Inspector Dave Burgum said: "Children are our future, and to help them to succeed in life it is important that they are given every opportunity to flourish.

"Seeing the joy on their faces when they saw the playground made it all worthwhile. That is what it was about, we did it for the children."

He added: "The team worked extremely hard on this project, and in all weathers. They battled through the rain and freezing cold to get it finished on time, and at the end of the day we all still had big smiles on our faces, it was fun even though it was hard work. I am very proud of them."

After the opening ceremony, children from the school swarmed all over the playground, waiting for their turn on the climbing frame and slide.

After they had all had their turn on the equipment, the children laid on a song and dance session for the team.

Mayor Stanislaw Ozog said: "The children wanted to do something to thank you for what you have done for them. It is only a very small way of saying thank you, but it is from their hearts."

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