‘Olympic legacy’ investment in facilities at Thaxted Skatepark by R4U administration

Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is delighted that its councillors at R4U-led Uttlesford District Council have unanimously approved a £35,000 grant to refurbish the skatepark operated by the Thaxted Youth Club.

Colin Day (R4U) Colin Day (R4U)

R4U’s Cllr Colin Day, who is the UDC portfolio holder for Communities, said “As shown by what happened at the Olympics, skateboarding and BMX sports are increasingly popular. This will become more so with inspirational athletes such as local Bethany Shriever, who won gold for BMX racing.”

Cllr Day continued “At UDC we are delighted to have unanimously agreed to make a £35,000 grant to refurbish Thaxted Youth Club’s skatepark. Their old equipment was 10 years old and is life-expired. We’d like to think of this grant by UDC as a local Olympic and Paralympic ‘legacy investment’ to inspire the next generation of world class sportspeople.”

Mike Tayler & Martin Foley (R4U) Mike Tayler & Martin Foley (R4U)

R4U’s Cllr Colin Day added “Elsewhere we’ve seen the payoff by those that encourage and invest in local sports. SWCHS alumni won more medals at the Tokyo Paralympics than many countries, including Portugal. Disappointingly previously UDC had not played its full part in youth sports. We inherited a district council that for decades had failed to invest in local sports and so we created a £450k grant fund. Our first grant was for the new 3G community youth football pitch at the Saffron Walden County High School that was opened this week. We encourage other areas of the district to apply for sports grants as both Saffron Walden Youth Football and Thaxted Youth Club did.”

R4U’s Councillor Martin Foley added “Both myself and fellow Thaxted ward councillor Mike Taylor see and recognise the amazing work undertaken by the Thaxted Youth Club team. We have championed this investment are absolutely delighted at the awarding of the grant. The skaters and bikers showed an important commitment to the project by rising over £1,100 themselves. However at UDC we agreed to cover all of the costs, and let the club keep what they had raised to encourage others to join these exciting and growing sports.”

The current Thaxted skatepark has become unsafe because the equipment is life expired. Image Copyright: Chris Davies / The Skateparks Project 12/12/2019

About Residents for Uttlesford