A NORTH Yorkshire adventure sports company is launching a project to turn leftover equipment into a children’s adventure playground in India.

Rat Race Adventure Sports, based in Shipton-by-Beningbrough between York and Easingwold, is taking £25,000 worth of leftover equipment from events in Australia and shipping it more than 5,000 miles to Karnakata province, near Bangalore.

There, the company, which specialises in obstacle-based events, hopes to build a jungle gym featuring tunnels, bridges, zip-wires and a climbing wall.

Jim Mee, founder of Rat Race, is now launching an appeal to raise £5,000 to put the finishing touches to the project in Malur.

Jim said: “A couple of years ago we ran a series of obstacle events in Australia. When the series ended, we were left with a container full of incredible obstacles - but on the other side of the world.

“It seemed a waste to scrap the gear and dispose of it in an un-environmentally sound way, so we set to work on finding a new use for it.”

Rat Race worked with the charity Playground Ideas to identify a location for a playground near Bangalore.

They then teamed up with local charity Headstreams and secured support and funding from UK-based plant, tools and equipment rental company GAP Group to bring the project to life.

The container of obstacles set sail from Brisbane for Mumbai in July.

Even the shipping container is being put to good use - forming the centrepiece of the entire play park.

It is hoped the UK construction team will fly to India to complete the build this October.

Jim continued: “A playground can be such a source of joy for children - the excitement that is creates is tangible and palpable.

“Our aim in setting out on this project is to create a real sense of ‘wow’ on the faces of the kids as we unveil the fantastic new facility to them.

“Together with GAP we have supplied all the practical components and have made significant financial contributions to make it work, but what we need now is a little extra help to put the icing on the cake.

“We want to raise a further £5,000 for finishing touches such as a fireman’s poll, safety nets and some special climbing holds to build a fun and safe climbing feature.

“These extra elements will really send this playground into orbit and make it truly world-class.”

Daimon Dunhue, events division manager at GAP Group, will be joining the construction team as they set to work on the playground.

He said: “We supply equipment to all of Jim’s events and as a company we have built up a strong relationship with him and the rest of the team over the years.

“When Jim talked to us about Project Playground and what he wanted to do, we thought it was a brilliant idea and something different. We really wanted to get involved.

“It has now become a personal thing for me too, as I have volunteered to go over in October and to help with the build. These guys are used to putting big projects together. I’m looking forward to working with them and seeing first-hand what they do.”

To support the project visit; crowdfunder.co.uk/project-playground