Family models sought for Wicksteed Park statues in Kettering

Opened in the 1920s, Wicksteed Park was one of the first to feature play equipment

A park in Northamptonshire is looking for a family to act as models for two life-sized bronze statues to mark the end of its £2m restoration.

The statues will be unveiled at the end of this year or early next year in Wicksteed Park, Kettering.

The park was opened in 1921 by its founder, industrialist Charles Wicksteed.

The statues, costing more than £20,000, aim to commemorate the restoration of the park's lake.

The bronze statues of two children will celebrate the completion of a £2m restoration of Wicksteed Park

They will be funded by the Wicksteed Charitable Trust.

The restoration project has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund along with Northamptonshire County Council and Kettering Borough Council.

Oliver Wicksteed, chairman of the Wicksteed Charitable Trust and Charles Wicksteed's great grandson, said: "The statue will represent how childhood has changed through the decades.

"It will feature two young children playing. We would like the family to have a special connection or love of the park and they may comprise an elderly grandparent who was around in the 1920s, and has a photograph of themselves as a young child, and a young grandchild from the present day."

Charles Wicksteed had an engineering firm which, among other things, made play equipment used in the park and around the world