DROITWICH’S popular Lido Park is being used by web giant JustGiving as a best practice case study of community fundraising.

The play area was destroyed in a shocking arson attack in July 2014 – but a crowdfunding campaign led by estate agent Matt Nicol collected £16,555 in just one month, enabling the facility to be rebuilt in record time.

Mr Nicol, director of Nicol and Co estate agent, which has branches in Droitwich and Worcester, was named in the top three in the community crowdfunder of the year category at the JustGiving Awards 2015 for his role in the fundraising efforts.

And now his story is being used in a JustGiving advertising campaign, including a double-page spread in the Guardian’s weekend magazine published on Saturday (October 3).

The feature labels the story of Droitwich’s Lido Park resurrection as “joy that arose from the ashes”.

It states that “an enormous amount of civic pride” in the Green-Flag-bearing Lido Park prompted 246 “enraged” residents and businesses to pledge donations to the rebuilding project on JustGiving.

Many of those donating were people with a personal connection to the park, such as having played there as children.

This fundraising empowered Wychavon District Council to rebuild the park in just over a month, ensuring children could enjoy the play area for some of the summer.

Mr Nicol, whose children Charlie, 5, and Maisie, 2, play in the park regularly, is quoted in the Guardian advertising feature as saying: “They’re all making use of something I played a part in and I find it all very humbling.

“I’m honoured to have been involved with it.

“JustGiving has given me a platform to be able to do such a wonderful thing. It enabled the community to come together and raise money, and now everyone benefits from using it and seeing the difference that their generous donations have made.”