YOUNG Emily Claxton is keen to see improvements at Gargrave Playground.

So the five-year-old decided to hold a cake stall outside her home in the village and donate the money to Gargrave Playground Association.

She held two stalls during one weekend and raised £88, which included donations from passers-by.

The association, of which her mum, Carolyn Robinson is a member, is trying to raise £110,000 to transform the rundown village play area at the bottom of Airedale Avenue.

It wants to replace the outdated equipment with modern apparatus and turn part of the area into a haven for wildlife, with bird boxes and new planting, to include fruit trees.

The group is working with the parish council, which owns the play area, and already has more than £10,000 in its charity account, thanks to grants from the Craven Trust, The Coulthurst Trust, Yorventure and more recently from local Rotarians.

The association is just putting the final touches to a lottery bid, which aims to secure money to pay for the first stage of the project, including drainage work at the site.

The bid has been put together using information gathered from a survey carried out by local civil engineer company JN Bentley, which gave its services for free.

Carolyn said: "The playground project has really brought the village together, and we are hoping for more donations to help us reach our goal."

The group has set up a Facebook page, where people can leave messages of support and find out more about the ambitious project.

Meanwhile, the association is continuing its fundraising and will hold a Hallowe'en coffee morning, with family fun, in Gargrave Village Hall on October 31.