The wheels are in motion for a long-running campaign seeking to resurrect an indoor skate park as support for the project grows.

Supporters of the Trick Factory indoor skate park, Bridport, met last week to discuss how to bring the project to fruition - and £15,000 has been earmarked by the town council with the intention of raising a further £20,000.

Skate part supporter Robin Wait contacted West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin asking for support, with Mr Letwin stating his willingness to bring together district and county councillors to determine what they can best do to help.

Mr Letwin said: “I am delighted that moves are afoot to establish a new indoor skate park in Bridport. The Trick Factory was a wonderful facility for young people in the town, and it would be great to have a replacement.”

With the project one of Bridport Town Council’s top priorities, Crystal Johnson has been commissioned to research potential funders.

To start the ball rolling, and working in partnership with the Bridport Young Persons Action Trust (BYPAT), Bridport Town Council has earmarked £15,000 in its own capital programme towards the project, with the intention of raising a further £20,000 from other sources. Other local funding will be sought, and already the Rotary Club of Bridport has agreed to help and is the process of forming a new joint project with it’s business partners to kick-start a local fundraising campaign.

Steering group chairman, Arthur Woodgate, of BYPAT, has emphasised the need to raise as much local funding as possible before approaching external major funders for support.

“The more we can raise from within our own community, the more it is a reflection of how much the community supports us,” he said. “The more support we receive the more realistic any target becomes, and in my experience this makes it all the more likely that others will contribute.”

Chris Scadding, one of the many parents on the steering group, is now encouraging young people to produce detailed plans of what they would like included in the new facility. The Sir John Colfox Academy is in full support, and is willing to host design workshops for interested students.

It has been agreed that the new facility should include a café area and be welcoming to families, children and young people of all ages, offer quality provision for BMX bikers, skate boarders and scooterists, and equality of access for both able-bodied and those with a disability.

“We have been able to achieve this equality in a previous partnership between BYPAT and the town council,” stated Mr Woodgate. “If we can do it with the West Bay Play Area, there’s no reason why it can’t be achieved with the new Trick Factory.”

A trial session has already been held at Mountjoy School, with support from WDDC’s Action Van Team.

Last month, the News reported that the campaign to bring back the indoor skate park had become a matter of urgency, as young people desperate to skate find themselves doing so in what has become a hotspot for drug-dealing and anti-social behaviour at the town's remaining outdoor skate park.

For more information about the campaign, contact a.c.woodgate@btinternet or D.Chambers@bridport-tc.gov.uk