Village residents near Grantham unite to raise funds for defibrillator and playground

Residents from a village near Grantham have banded together to help raise money for a defibrillator.

The community of Burton-le-Coggles has rallied around to support each other during lockdown and have continued to keep up community spirits with social events.

They have also spent time sprucing up areas around the village including restoring the village benches and noticeboard, painting the church railings and organising litter picks.

The community has now started hosting bi-monthly events to raise funds for a much-needed defibrillator and a playground due to an increase in children in the village.

Fund-raising events have included a community garden party, including Westby and Bassingthorpe which raised over £300, and a clay pigeon shoot day that raised over £700.

Lizzie Loring, who helps run The Parish Meeting with other members from the community, said: “We really got to know each other during lockdown and more people got involved within events in the village.

“ We actually ended up with more volunteers during the lockdown than we had people that needed some extra help.

“The farm shop at the Cholmeley Arms really kept us going. They really supported the community and delivered food when people were unable to get it.

They also increased what they had for sale and managed to source things like flour and yeast that supermarkets in town were struggling with.”

The village now has its own Whatsapp group and Facebook page to help each other keep in touch.

Lizzie added: “If anything good has come out of the Covid pandemic, it’s just how much communities have really come together to support each other including ours.”

Their next event will be a supper, quiz and raffle tonight (Saturday) at 7pm in the village hall and residents are keen to extend the invitation to the wider community.

Tickets cost £10. To book, call 01476 550943.

To donate towards the defibrillator, visit www.gofundme.com/f/burton-le-coggles-needs-a-defibrillator or towards the playground at www.gofundme.com/f/gw832-community-playground