THEY loved the excitement of having a lot of visitors.

They loved the look and feel of the mayor and mayoress’ chains of office, and laughed and laughed at patting the man’s bald head when he had his back turned to them.

But what the children really love is the play equipment that has transformed their break times.

Who wouldn’t at their age? Three-year-old Ethan Harding walking the rope bridge or Edith Richardson, four, coming down the slide wearing the new glasses she was proudly showing off to everyone.

Then there were the children in wheelchairs, who could not climb the steps but could have super fun following the racetrack round the play area.

Truth be told, the adults loved it too. A clergyman whose name will be withheld to save his clerical blushes, had a quick zip down the slide when he thought not too many were looking.

It was that sort of joyous event when the laughter and smiles of the children become infectious.

Another infectious element in all of this is Margaret Jones (her favourite is the racetrack). Her enthusiasm partly explains why Fort Royal Community Primary School in Wyld’s Lane, Worcester, is so successful at raising money to help the children with special needs who attend it.

Like the £11,881 provided through the Worcester News from its parent company’s charitable trust, the Gannett Foundation.

Margaret is the school’s grants administrator. Her job is to find companies and people with money willing to donate to her cause of giving the children at Fort Royal everything they need.

The play area officially opened by the mayor and mayoress of Worcester, Roger and Jill Berry, was phase three of the masterplan. But even as the children and visiting guests were chasing each other around the play area, volunteers from the Duckworth Trust were rolling up to start on yet another project, this time creating a decked pond area.

And then there are the plans to transform an overgrown area of the school grounds known as Conker Wood into a sensory garden and outdoor learning area.

“How much, Margaret?” someone asked. “£15,000,” she said. And her eyes lit up at the challenge.

Anyone out there with a few pounds to spare?

“Thank you ever so much for coming,” she said, as the VIPs started drifting away.

They looked at her bemused. “Thank us?” they said. “Thank you. We’ve had a great time.”

How could you not, with the climbing frame, the slide, the racetrack and, most of all, the smiling faces of the children.

l To learn more about the school, visit fortroyal.co.uk.