Young people get their skates on in Kirkintilloch
The community of Kirkintilloch, on the outskirts of Glasgow, had been crying out for somewhere for young people to skate since the 1970s and six years ago a group of the skaters decided to take action. After years of commitment to the project, they have finally had their reward.
A 1000 square metre skate park in Luggie Park in Kirkintilloch, partially constructed from recycled tyres and costing £458,000, was completed in November. And the Kirkintilloch Skate Park Initiative (KSI) has been the driving force behind it.
The KSI came together in 2003 to appeal to East Dunbartonshire Council for somewhere for the many skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX bikers to go instead of the town’s pavements and streets. For years, locals had complained about skaters in the streets but not much had been done to persuade the council for a skate park.
With the help of a project committee, the Kirkintilloch skaters began fundraising and applied to the council for land. Although land was designated by the council in 2003, lack of access to the site meant a long planning permission process went on until 2006 when applications for funding could begin.
Funding for the £458,000 project came from various channels, with a huge £230,000 from WREN. The money was awarded from WREN’s Community Challenge Fund, which provides funding for community regeneration projects. The remaining funding came from the Young People’s Lottery Fund, East Dunbartonshire Council and HG Consulting.
Willie Beattie, WREN's associate in Glasgow & Lanarkshire, says the Kirkintilloch Skate Park is a prime example of a project which has a real impact on its local community: “The skaters in the town worked hard to gain the support of their own community and council and to prove the benefits that a skate park would bring to Kirkintilloch and the surrounding area. Their determination and drive to improve facilities for a large number of local people was obvious, and their application for funding impressive. WREN wants to see funds generated from rubbish invested in projects that will have a massive impact for the local community, and this is definitely going to do just that.”
