What do people in Hillsborough think of the park's proposed £1m community cafe and activity centre?

The National Lottery Heritage Fund last week announced they had awarded Age UK Sheffield £581,500 to restore the derelict Grade II Listed building and turn another nearby building into a ‘creative shed’.

Kelly Scargill, who lives on Middlewood Road, said she thought the new facility would be ‘brilliant’.

She said: “I volunteer for Step Out Sheffield which helps people with rehabilitation through walking in the park and a lot of people will benefit from this.

“I can see it fitting in really well with what we do. We help people who have had strokes get active in the community and we will be able to do lots of activities from there.

Daniel Thorpe, from Dixon Road, said he used the park and the Hillsborough library ‘a lot’ and thought the cafe would be a ‘good thing’ for the area.

He said: “The park doesn’t have a cafe or toilet facilities at the moment so it will be good for older people especially.

“I am a historian so I would certainly rather a building be used than left derelict. But the structure itself is solid so it will be good to see it being used again.”

Joanne Firth, from Capel Street, said her and her mum had been talking about the park needing a cafe just recently.

She said: “We use the park a lot but it not having enough facilities is a problem. If it was turned into a cafe with toilets that would be brilliant.

“Endlicffe Park has got a nice little cafe and other facilities but we get a bit neglected over this side of the city I think.”

And Colin Scott, from Hillsborough, said he thought the cafe was an ‘excellent idea’.

He said: “It is very popular and sociable park and always had lots of dog walkers but it does lack facilities. The more people it attracts to the park the better.”

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