The shortfall for the Arbroath Skatepark project has been reduced to a four-figure sum after a series of generous donations.
The Courier revealed last month that unless the last £27,000 was found by the end of January the project was in danger of collapsing.
Funding needs to be in place this month to enable the £202,000 scheme to be completed in August, which is a condition of a £100,000 grant from sportscotland.
The shortfall is now down to £8,907 as the days tick down to the deadline. Arbroath and Area Partnership and Arbroath Round Table have each pledged £1,000 to the project.
Other recent donations include £200 from Arbroath Scouts the proceeds of its Christmas post service and £300 from the Arbroath branch of Specsavers.
Plans for the skatepark were formally approved by Angus Council last week.
Jillian Low, who has led the project for the past three years, said: “We are delighted that the planning application has been approved by Angus Council.
“It is an important milestone reached in the journey towards the successful completion of our project.
“This is a very exciting time for our group, as we are inching closer every day to securing the total cost of the build.
“Securing this final amount is crucial as it will enable us to move on to the tendering phase, and in turn, allow construction to begin in June.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed so far and would welcome any further public donations to help us make sure that we have the remaining funds in place by the end of January.”
Arbroath and Area Partnership chairman Lindsey Watson inspected the project’s site at West Links on Sunday.
He said: “Since the early days of the skatepark project we have with keen interest been given step by step updates.
“Jillian and her members have carried out a mammoth task to get the project to where it is today.
“We were extremely disappointed to hear before the Christmas holidays that the project was struggling at the last hurdle.
“Although the next partnership meeting is not until February, we agreed to commit £1,000 to the project knowing that there is a deadline for funding to be in place.
“The area partnership is fully supportive of Jillian and her team’s effort and wish them every success.”