Escrick Playing Fields Association (EPFA)

The EPFA is a charity that was formed by a group of parents in Escrick for the maintenance and improvement of the playing fields. On its formation it created the existing play area on ground kindly provided by The Escrick Park Estate for a peppercorn rent. The EPFA is run by a committee of volunteers who report to The Parish Council. The volunteers raise money, undertake safety checks, clear rubbish and carry out maintenance in order to ensure the village has, and will continue to have, an attractive, safe and stimulating play area for the children. 

The committee holds five meetings a year on Tuesdays at 8pm and anyone who wishes to join us is most welcome. The main fundraising event is The Escrick 10K Race and on average this has raised £4-5000 per event.  These funds have been used to maintain the area and to build reserves for the replacement of equipment when it reaches end of life. 

In 2012 we were able to add a basket swing, in 2013 we have added a zip wire and a roundabout and in 2014 we added a table tennis table. Football nets have been put up to encourage use of the goals. The woodland area has been cleared, thinned and a new path dug. The focus is now on growing reserves for future replacements of the original equipment which will be reaching end-of-life over the coming years. (There is about £80,000 of equipment in place with a typical life expectancy of 20 years - so an average of £4000 per year to replace). 

At Easter 2024 we held our first ‘Big Clean’ with over 30 volunteers from the community, including several children, doing a great job to get the park ready for the summer.  We now plan to hold our first ‘Winter Sweep’ on Sunday 1st December at 10am followed by our next ‘Big Clean’ on Sunday 6th April 2025 10am-12pm.  We also hope to hold our first ‘Summer Social’, provisionally scheduled for Saturday 28th June 2025 4-8pm.  It would be lovely to see you at any of these events. 

Escrick Playing Fields Association is a Registered Charity, Number 1091589. 
 

Paul Britton is the chair and can be contacted on playing.fields@escrick.org