VILLAGE friends Sophie Finnegan and Abigail Richardson are being given the honour of officially opening a community play park.

Ten-year-old Sophie raised £200 towards the £94,000 project in Dunsdale, east Cleveland, with a sponsored swim to help the village's community association revive the derelict land.

Her school friend Abigail, 13, has also been actively involved in planning meetings and delivering leaflets to each of the village's 74 houses.

Dunsdale's Community Play Park will be opened tomorrow.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's community development team has steered the process through a series of challenges and problems that has involved installing a zebra crossing for safe access to the park, reducing traffic speed through the village and guiding grant applications.

Now the area has swings and other play equipment in a separate fenced area, a community park with seating, pine trees and a flowering hawthorn bush as surrounds and the foundations for a mosaic to be created by the village's children.

The project's funding package is made up of two large grants through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme - with almost £48,000 from Biffaward and £25,000 from Sita Trust - plus other funding from Redcar and Cleveland Council, Guisborough Town Council, Lord Zetland and contributions from industry.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at the Dunsdale Community play park at noon.