Skating facilities for Longparish

Please find below a summary of the process and the various activities that lead to the successful installation of a skate ramp and youth shelter in Longparish

Research and Proposals

The start of the project saw us doing a significant amount of research and producing a detailed report. This initial report (more links below) was discussed at the Parish Council meeting on 13th May 2002.

Initial Report, 13 May 2002

Read the report online. Individual pages with navigation buttons
Read the report online. Single page (about 370 kilobytes)
Read as PDF. (printable, 712 kilobytes - requires Adobe Acrobat reader)

We did further research, including consulting with landowners and getting quotes from 3 suppliers of ramps. The resulting recommendation - that we construct a wooden half pipe with escalator on the spare ground at the Play Park and build a shelter to improve the facilities for all users - was presented to the Public Meeting preceding the Parish Council meeting on 8th July 2002.

This is what we said the ramp was likely to look like:

The public meeting and the Parish Council supported our proposals and suggested a few improvements.

We commissioned Iain Morgan from 'Ramps by E' (0117 904 4702) to install the ramp.

The Parish Council also agreed that we should have a area of sheltered seating for the benefit of all users of the play area.

Youth shelter

They approved our proposal for installing a 'Trojan Youth Shelter' from Base Leisure (01442) 878737

See the picture to get an idea what we said it would look like.

For safety and aesthetic reasons we installed Matta safety matting

(01932) 788 699

http://www.matta-products.com

through which the grass can grow, under the shelter and down the side of the ramp. We also put up extra fencing to separate the skate ramp from the play area for the younger children.

Costs

The total cost of the project was in the region of £18,000.

Fund Raising

We received grant support from Longparish Parish Council, Test Valley Borough Council and the Hampshire Playing Fields Association, for which we are very grateful.

In addition we held a number of fund raising events in the village

  • Jim Neal organised a Race Night on 20th September which was much enjoyed and has raised over £800! Many, many thanks to everybody who contributed in any way
  • a sponsored run/walk round the cricket field raised a magnificent £400 – congratulations to all who took part. Lyn says thanks very much to all of you, and also to the Cricket Club for allowing the use of their ground
  • Elaine and Steve held a BBQ to celebrate their first year at the Cricketers and have donated £200 from it to the fund – again, very many thanks indeed (and the BBQ was very good, too!)
  • we have received a donation as a result of a team of volunteers who helped clear up after the fête
Quiz night & Auction of Promises

Our fund raising activities culminated in a busy weekend on the 15th-17th November. On Friday 15th November, a crowd of around 100 enjoyed a quiz night at the village hall, ably led by quiz master Graham Healey. After supper: the Auction of Promises; and Nick Jarrett, a professional auctioneer, raced through the 61 lots donated by children and adults. These ranged from dog walking, baby sitting and garden clearing, to fishing, Christmas pudding and 5 minutes in the pulpit of St Nicholas Church! The bidding was fierce and we were delighted to be able to announce that the auction had raised £950 - enough for us to be able to say we'd reached our total fund raising target.

Many thanks must go to all who made the event possible - donors and bidders; cooks and bottle washers; decorators and money collectors.

We drew the raffle on the Saturday and all the winners have now received their winnings - this raised over £500.

Donors

In addition to the people who have generously supported the events listed above, a number of people and companies have very kindly made donations to the Skate Ramp fund.

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