Pub playground opens in memory of Kent toddler
The Sir Stanley Gray pub in Ramsgate, was attended regularly by the Gough family, whose two-year-old son Alfie passed away from neuroblastoma in 2010.
A new sunken ship-themed playground is the result of a £60,000 investment by the pub and is the only one of its design in the country.
Its opening was used to raise awareness for the Alfie Gough Trust, which the Gough family run from Vancouver, Canada.
Treatment funding
Pub group Thorley Taverns fundraised for the family when they were trying to fund treatment in America and has continued to support the trust.
The trust raises funds so other families can have access to services including complementary treatments and nutritional therapy.
Alfie’s mum Sarah Gough said: “We have used the pub as a family and held Alfie’s wake there. We spent time at the new play area with family and friends while we were back in the UK recently.
“It’s fantastic. The children absolutely loved it.
“Thorley Taverns has supported us for the past eight years since we started fundraising. We have been very lucky to have had, and continue to have, such great support from Thorley Taverns.
“The charity loves working and being involved with our local community as this was where it all started when everyone stopped to help our beautiful Alfie.”
Fantastic cause
The trust has helped to set up a massage therapy room at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Frank Thorley, operator of the site, said: “It’s a fantastic cause. When you hear about kids who are struck down like that it’s horrific so we will do anything we can to highlight what they do.”
The playground was designed by outdoor play experts, Creative Play, and the site required cranes to lift materials down the side of a cliff, which is inaccessible by road.
