Whitburn pupil wins £12k play equipment for school

A pupil has won £12,000-worth of play equipment for his school after winning a competition run by a South Tyneside business.
Mark Carter, from Play Fitness, Whitburn and Marsden councillor and Marsden Primary School governor Tracy Dixon, pupil Charlie Begg with his winning design and headteacher Caroline Marshall.Mark Carter, from Play Fitness, Whitburn and Marsden councillor and Marsden Primary School governor Tracy Dixon, pupil Charlie Begg with his winning design and headteacher Caroline Marshall.
Mark Carter, from Play Fitness, Whitburn and Marsden councillor and Marsden Primary School governor Tracy Dixon, pupil Charlie Begg with his winning design and headteacher Caroline Marshall.

Play Fitness, based on Forest Road Industrial Estate, South Shields, set a design challenge to celebrate the launch of its new infant range, giving schools the chance to win a trim trail.

Pupils were asked to invent a piece of play equipment, and the winning entry came from Charlie Begg, a Year 4 pupil at Marsden Primary School in Whitburn.

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The nine-year-old came up with a design inspired by his love of riding his bike. He said: “Two exercise bikes are put on with wheels on a track. You need two people to work it. You need to try and go all the way round the track by working in a team.”

Mark Carter, sales consultant at Play Fitness, said: “We had a fantastic response to the competition and would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter. He said of the winning entry: “We loved the fact that it involved teamwork, and that it also provided a bit of competitiveness, as they would be racing against each other.”

The school, in Mill Lane, is now hoping to have the trim trail, which features balance beams, hump-back bridge and stepping stones, installed in time for spring.

Headteacher Caroline Marshall is also planning to add a plaque in Charlie’s honour. She said: “We have got such gorgeous grounds, it will be nice to give the children more to see and do.”

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Charlie said: “I am really happy to win and I think the other children are going to like it.”

Whitburn and Marsden councillor Tracey Dixon, who is a governor at the school, said: “I think it’s absolutely amazing that Charlie’s entry won.”