{"id":7768,"date":"2015-10-01T09:44:03","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T16:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/?p=7768"},"modified":"2018-07-19T20:10:07","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T03:10:07","slug":"the-winning-idea-for-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/the-winning-idea-for-london\/","title":{"rendered":"The Winning Idea for London"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shelah_1200\"<\/a>
\nCongratulations to Shelah Brook, my final choice for London Hometown Hero! I just called to give her the news that her winning idea of\u00a0a new, state-of-the-art playground in Springbank Park had been chosen and she was so excited… but then I am too.<\/p>\n

\"in<\/a>

in London, Ont. on Thursday October 1, 2015. Craig Glover\/The London Free Press\/Postmedia Network<\/p><\/div>\n

Her husband, Gord, helped set up my surprise call. In her application Shelah said, \u201cSpringbank Park has attracted visitors from all over the city for generations,\u201d adding that a new playground would become the centerpiece attraction it should be.<\/p>\n

Shelah is a home daycare provider and pilates instructor and says she knows the importance of play for both children and adults. She requested $100,000 (which will be $130,000 CAD) for an accessible playground that will bring joy and fun to all children and their families.<\/p>\n

Shelah is a married mother of 5 adult children and her husband works for the City of London Police Service. They have lived in London for 30 years.<\/p>\n

This choice for a new playground satisfies many of the criteria I was looking for. I wanted something that could be enjoyed by as many people as possible and something long lasting. This certainly qualifies. I was also influenced by the large number of people who asked for playgrounds in various parks and schools. In fact, more requests came in for new playgrounds than anything else.<\/p>\n

I have already spoken to a London city planner and we will all be working together to design a fabulous new playground, which will likely be installed in the spring. It will be situated right where I used to play as a child on the swings and teeter-totter.<\/p>\n

Finally, I want to thank the hundreds of Londoners who submitted their ideas and I only wish I could have done much more. These are all people with big hearts who want to help their neighbors and their city and I encourage everyone to continue looking for ways to help the London community.<\/p>\n

The design progress and timeline of the new playground will be available here in my blog for anyone wanting to follow along. I hope to have some drawings and photos soon. Congratulations again, Shelah!<\/p>\n

To see the London Free Press feature, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

To see the CTV News feature, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to Shelah Brook, my final choice for London Hometown Hero! I just called to give her the news that her winning idea of\u00a0a new, state-of-the-art playground in Springbank Park had been chosen and she was so excited… but then I am too. Her husband, Gord, helped set up my surprise call. In her application […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philanthropy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t