'Chewy Cannon' to Open Southtown Common Skatepark
PR 189
5 June 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Professional skateboarder and local hero Chewy Cannon is to open the new skate park at Southtown Common on
Saturday 10 June at 11am.
Chewy, who grew up in Gorleston, has recently returned from a tour of Russia, and is taking time out of his busy globe trotting schedule to open the park, funded by the Big Lottery, to provide support for the young people in his home town.
Revolutionz from Norwich are working with the Borough Council to ensure the opening event will be one to remember. It will run from 11am to 2.30pm, and include skate and BMX workshops, graffiti art demonstrations, plus a jam session for both skaters and riders - with prizes for the top three aged 16 and under and the over 17s.
A jam session, for the uninitiated, is a competition whereby the kids are asked to skate and ride for an hour whilst judges assess their skills.
The skatepark was the idea of the Gorleston Youth Partnership, who have spent the last two years working hard on this project raising money and carrying out community consultations to ensure everyone was behind them.
Members spent several days during half term attending organised ‘spray days’, when they were encouraged to use ‘street art’ to cover the ramps in time for the opening. This approach is favoured and recommended by the Police as it helps prevent random and offensive graffiti being used, as the young people taking ownership and pride in their work.
This project is the sixth of 10 benefiting from a grant to the Borough Council totalling £400,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. Work begun this week on the Community Playground at Magdalen Square and Marine Parade, Gorleston, with all projects aiming to be completed in time for the summer holidays.
Notes to editors/Additional information:
Big Lottery Fund is the joint co-operating name of the New Opportunities Fund and the National Lottery Charities Board (which make grants under the name of the Community Fund). Big Lottery Fund, launched on 1 June 2004, is distributing half of all national Lottery good cause funding across the UK.
Big Lottery Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money. To date, the two merged Funds have committed more than £5 billion to initiatives with national, regional and local partners from the public, voluntary, charity and private sectors with a particular focus on disadvantage.
For further information please contact Emma Dixon at Great Yarmouth Borough Council on 01493 846442.
email: eld@great-yarmouth.gov.ukIssued by:
Liz Dann
Press Officer
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
01493 846513