The plan to reinvent a Barnes recreation ground has been backed by the Mayor of London and smashed its fundraising target.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged £13,000 towards the Vine Road project run by Friends of Barnes Common and it reached its target within a few days.

The project is in its third year, and hopes to upgrade the recreation ground which it says is within a catchment area that includes several areas of deprivation and a higher-than-average number of children and young people.

"We are now in the lucky position to be 'overfunding' and we do not want to rest on our laurels, with our campaign not due to end until the 11th of May," says Friends' development officer Jackie Marie.

"Any and all overfunding will continue to support work on our plans for Vine Road and making some more immediate improvements.

"But it is not just 'money' – we really want to engage the community: additional support in the form of volunteering, sharing skills such as carpentry or marketing will help us do even more.

"We very much appreciate the continued support of our community and want to get the word out that with more funds and support, we can do more."

Khan's contribution was provided through the Mayor of London's resilience fund.

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe, said: "The Mayor and I believe our communities have some fantastic ideas on how to emerge from the pandemic and bring our city together.

"We're proud to support this project and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on the local community."

Friends of Barnes Common Chairman Mike Hildesley said: "The Community support is fantastic, and we are thrilled to have this support and endorsement of our Project from the Mayor.

"This campaign has been all about community engagement with the larger Project, and its success is a huge boost towards development of the Master Plan as well as making some more immediate improvements.

"The campaign remains open and the more we raise now the more design work and improvements we will be able to get done."

Donations, however small, are gratefully accepted on the crowdfunding page here.

To find out more about Friends of Barnes Common and volunteering with them click here or follow the group on social media @FriendsBC on Twitter @barnescommon on Instagram and @barnescommon on Facebook .