ONE of Ryedale Lions’ longest-serving members has made a special visit to the Pickering Pre-school Playgroup to present a donation - half a century after his late wife helped set it up.

Geoff Otterburn, who lives in Pickering, handed over a cheque for £220 from the Lions to the playgroup in Hallgarth to provide new facilities for the children, including painting easels and sand-tray supports.

On hand to welcome him and Ryedale Lions president David Warin was Cait Faulkner, the pre-school’s chairman and some of the group’s 30 young members keen to show off their new equipment.

Among them was three-year old Teagan Whitehouse who set to with paintbrush to produce an impressive group portrait of the occasion.

Cait said: “We rely heavily on voluntary donations and this money has helped provide much-needed modern easels that can now also be used as whiteboards for mark-making, as well as for magnetic shapes and letters.

"Thanks to the new legs for the sand-tray, our smaller children who had difficulty in reaching over will now be able to join in the fun.

“It’s a real pleasure to see so many happy little faces. I only wish my late wife Sheila could be here to see what wonderful work this place is still doing 50 years after she helped start it up.”