Villagers have teamed up to help make their community a better place to live, planning a summer activities programme for children.

The scheme was one of a number of new initiatives in Seamer, near Stokesley, as part of an improvement programme being led by the parish council and villagers.

They met earlier this year to discuss what could make Seamer a better place – particularly for young families.

The summer of fun activities in the village hall was the idea of resident Ally Johnson, and Richmond and Northallerton MP Rishi Sunak paid a visit recently, joining in the final event in the programme, a pottery painting session.

(Image: Contributor)

He said: “It was great fun and it was lovely to see so many children and their parents getting involved. The programme is a great example of a community getting together and helping young families.”

Parish council chair Maureen Marshall said the programme funding came from the village hall committee, the North Yorkshire councillor for Seamer, Cllr David Hugill, local company Labman and a community fund established by the developer of the nearby wind farm.

Cllr Marshall said: “We were delighted Rishi could come and see what we have achieved. It has been really successful and we will look to do something similar for future school holidays.”

She added that other projects the council and villagers were working on including events at Christmas and Easter, a new bus shelter for children waiting for school transport, new seating and flower tubs and improvements to the village pond.