Southwell community raise over £15,000 for new skatepark beating Crowdfunder target
A community’s huge support for a new skatepark has seen a Crowdfunding effort surpass its target by thousands of pounds.
The Crowdfunder was launched by councillor Jamie Bostock on behalf of Southwell Town Council, and aimed to fund pool steps and a bowl corner for a new skatepark in the town, which is currently under construction.
It set an initial target of £10,000 on its launch, and after great support from residents has now raised over £15,000.
Jamie said: “It has been amazing to see the community come together in support of our Crowdfunder project. Initially our target was to raise £10,000, but in the past few days we’ve managed to surpass this.
“This is thanks to the support of individual donors from across Southwell, local businesses and people donating rewards, as well as Southwell groups making large contributions. The Lions, Southwell Rotary and the Easthorpe Common Trust have been very generous in supporting us.
“Initially I was nervous about getting the project up and running, I’d never set up a Crowdfunder before. However, once a few donations came in, and people could see the rewards on offer, it just started growing in momentum. It was so exciting to see Southwell people, and those from further afield, contributing to build the best skatepark possible, I couldn’t be more grateful.”
A total of £15,418 was donated by 111 supporters over the 28 day period the fundraiser ran for.
The new skatepark, designed and built by Betongpark, features a range of durable, concrete ramps and half-tunnels, bowl sections and rails, at a cost of over £100,000 and replaces the previous run-down facility on the Park Lane site.
The success of the project has largely been due to the work of the Friends of Southwell Parks, alongside the town council, who came up with the idea for the Crowdfunder and have pushed for the development of the new facility from its inception.
“Being the youngest town councillor in Southwell, and having seen the hard work that it took to get the skatepark design finalised, I was really keen to offer as much of my time as I could to kick the Crowdfunder off and keep everyone updated while it was going on,” Jamie added.
“The Labour Party has a national mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The old skatepark, given its dilapidated state, was a barrier to opportunity in that people couldn’t use it to exercise safely. This new skatepark is a very local, accessible way for us to provide people with fresh opportunities to exercise, socialise and develop new skills.
“The amount of positivity that I received on social media, and in person, for the duration of the campaign blew me away. People were commenting, sharing, spreading the news by word of mouth. It was really heart-warming to see so many people who are connected to Southwell, pulling together to get the Crowdfunder noticed, and to keep the momentum up for the whole four-week period.”
The Crowdfunder has also had the support of Southwell’s businesses, which offered around 30 different rewards in return for donations, including bottles of wine, skate gear, vouchers and much more.
The extra money raised through the initiative will be invested in the skatepark — to build additional features, fund maintenance and skate-related activities at the site.
Jamie said: “The extra money is there to improve and preserve the skatepark, not a penny will be wasted. Because we surpassed our £10,000 target, we get £3,000 guaranteed as a pledge from Sport England. My hope is that this will help to cement skating as a part of Southwell’s activities offering for years and years to come. I’ve said all along, I want Southwell to be seen as a skating hub.”
Construction is well underway on the new skatepark, with work currently expected to be completed in March.
