Gillingham Town Meadow has just undergone its latest improvement – lighting. Victorian-style lamp posts have been erected along the path that runs through it, connecting the library and the High Street.

The lamps were paid for thanks to £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £5,000 from the Town Meadow Group’s own fundraising. But the work was also possible thanks to the generosity of local businesses giving their time and expertise.

‘A huge thanks must go out to Dextra Lighting for their invaluable help in sourcing and shipping the lamp posts,’ said Rob Setchell, chairman of the Town Meadow Group. ‘And also to Tom Shean of Clifford T Shean electricians for wiring them up and Sean Gibson of Fencewize for the ground work. All costs were kept to a minimum to allow all this, including the wrought iron fence along the river, to come within the budget given to us through a lottery grant,’ he said.

He added: ‘Our next project is to replace the wooden posts on the Red Lion border with black, canon style bollards, to separate the meadow from the car park.’

Sean Gibson of Fencewize said: ‘The new street lights were our latest job for the team on the Town Meadow Group, working alongside Tom Shean and Dextra Lighting we feel the end result is exactly what the team wanted. We feel privileged to continue to be asked to do work for the TMG.’

A spokeswoman for Dextra said: ‘Dextra Group were pleased to assist the local community and the Town Meadow Group in particular by supplying the new lamp lighting for the town meadow.’

Cliiford T Shean said: ‘The team at Clifford T Shean feel privileged to be involved in our local community and were very happy to help with the installation of the Town Meadow lights. It is great to see part of the town centre being more accessible and safer.’

The group raises funds through events, hiring out the meadow to the public and signing up ‘friends of the meadow’ for £5 a year.

Anyone wanting to contribute can contact treasurer Bob Messer at gtcmeadow@btinternet.com or contact the group via its Facebook page.