Raunds Skate Park

Aim

Raunds has a passionate wheel-based sports community. Please help us answer their calls for a new, inclusive and vibrant concrete skate park

Who are we?

Raunds Town Council is the parish authority for Raunds. Our vision is to ensure that Raunds is a thriving, vibrant and attractive place in which to work, live and visit. Key to this is the provision of high quality leisure facilities which support people of all age ranges and abilities to enjoy healthy, active lives.

The crowdfunding campaign has been put together with the incredible, dedicated support of Raunds Ramps - a diverse group of local residents who want to see a safe, fun and accessible gathering space for skaters, families and the entire community. 

Why are we crowdfunding?

The former Raunds skate park was a very well used facility which by 2020 had sadly reached the end of its useful life. Ever since the old timber ramps were decommissioned, the site at Amos Lawrence Park has sat vacant and the Council has been committed to raising the required funding to bring it back into community use. Great progress towards meeting the funding target has been achieved, and we are very nearly there.

The crowdfunding campaign represents the last big push to secure the remaining funding required . Achieving enough donations through crowdfunding is crucial to ensuring that the Council is able to access match funded grants from other organisations.

Crowdfunding is also a way of enabling the fantastic local businesses based in Raunds to show their support for the project and promote their services by offering a range of exciting rewards in return for donations to the skate park. Any donation, however big, brings us a step closer to turning the vision into a reality. Thank you!

How we’ll spend the money raised

Every penny raised will go directly into building the new skate park. £200,000 has already been successfully raised, however the Town Council is looking to secure an additional £80,000 through grants and crowdfunding in order to include a pump track and an accessible footpath with the designs.

Feedback regarding the old skate park indicated that many people found it to be intimidating and inaccessible, particularly for younger riders. A pump track would provide inexperienced riders with the chance to develop their confidence, balance and park etiquette before advancing to the main skate park. 

At present, there is also no accessible footpath leading from the Amos Lawrence car park to the skate park site. The Town Council would like to ensure that this forms part of the build, in order to make the new facility a fully inclusive environment and remove any barriers to participation.

Any funds raised in excess of the target will be invested into providing additional features such as improved street furniture and lighting.

(Initial design impression - subject to alteration)

Community impact

Skateboarding, riding a scooter or BMX are all great forms of exercise, but the benefits that a new skate park will bring to the Raunds community run much deeper. At a personal level these sports teach important values like patience, determination, tenacity, respect, discipline and bravery.

Many lifelong friendships are forged at the skate park where people help and support one another, breaking down the barriers of social isolation.

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality:

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

This project successfully funded on 26th March 2024