Skatepark update – Sept 2020

So what a mad year we’ve all had so far eh?!!

I’d like to start this post by saying that I hope that you are all well and coping ok in these difficult times.

Going into 2020, we were brimming with ideas for community fundraisers and events like skate jams, BBQs and competitions etc, but then the C bomb arrived and pretty much knackered everything.

Despite our burning desire to start fundraising for the new skatepark, we wanted to be responsible and organising these kind of events which would ultimately bring lots of people into close proximity just felt like the wrong thing to be doing considering the health risks.

Therefore rather than focusing on community outreach, we spent our time over lockdown applying for grant funding instead, as well as planning the next few month’s activity.

Even this approach didn’t seem impervious to Covid, as many of the staff working at the bodies issuing the grants had been furloughed which resulted in applications being put on hold or cancelled.

However against this backdrop of doom and gloom, last week we learned that our efforts had paid off as we’ve been successful in securing a whopping £55,000 towards the new skatepark which puts us over a quarter of the way towards our target!

This is also a huge milestone as it demonstrates to other potential donors and stakeholders that we’re serious and a well organised team, rather than a shambolic rabble (ok maybe still a bit of a rabble, but we’re cool with that).

The plan for the next few months will be kicking off some local community fundraising campaigns (socially distanced), so we need your help to make these as successful as possible, both by getting involved as well as spreading the word.

While this is going on, we’ll be continuing to work with our partners behind the scenes to apply for more grant funding wherever we find opportunities.

If you’d like to volunteer to help out, then please join our facebook group and send us a DM.