Campaigners who want to build a roller skating track in a Dundee park have raised cash to get the project started through crowdfunding.
The Baxter Park Skate Track Group have gathered £300 in donations – enough to cover the costs for a planning permission application.
They still need to raise a further £700 towards other preliminary costs, such as getting designs drawn up, and have appealed for further help.
Nichola Fraser, who came up with the idea for the initiative, said the group’s community consultation had received “overwhelmingly positive responses”.
She added: “We are now going on to the stage where we’re looking to get a feasibility study done.
“Our consultation showed that 84% support the idea for a skate track.
“One boy at a parents’ evening we attended was so excited that he asked his mum if he could give the pennies he had in his pocket – he gave us 23p and said ‘there you go, that’s a start’.
“It was so sweet and I still have those pennies on my desk as a reminder that although these things take a long time, it will be worth it.”
She said the initial crowdfunding target was £1,000 but the group would be looking to raise a lot more if it received planning permission.
“We don’t know how much the whole project would cost yet, as we would need to get quotes once everything else is in place,” she added.
“Hopefully we’ll have submitted some bids for funding by the next deadline, which is in April.”
Nichola said there was an established skating community in Dundee and a lot of interest in casual outdoor skating.
The new facility would be located on the site of the former bowling area and would also be suitable for wheelchair sports, as well as for children learning to ride scooters and bikes.
Nichola said: “We have roller hockey, roller derby and monthly roller discos in the city.
“A lot of the young people we spoke to in schools also expressed an interest in learning to skate.
“We believe that if the facility is there, people would use it.”
To learn more about the skate track initiative and donate, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/baxter-park-skate-track-fundraiser
