SHEPTON Mallet Skateboard Park appeal has smashed through the £100,000 barrier thanks to a bumper week of fundraising and grant-giving.
Two large grants over the weekend amounting to £25,000 – plus almost £600 from a fundraising gig by band Under Cover – has pushed the total for the new skateboard park to just short of £101,000.
It is a phenomenal result for the hard-working committee behind the Save Shepton Skate Park appeal, which formed less than 18 months ago after the previous wooden ramp site at Old Wells Road was deemed unsafe.
Over the eight years it was there, the free facility had helped many young people to stay active and was used by up to 100 youngsters on busy weekends.
Now it has been revealed that those youngsters may only have a matter of months to wait until they are proving their prowess on what is set to be the best facility of its kind in mid-Somerset.
Andrew Rainsford is the volunteer responsible for fundraising.
He revealed the latest success and said that within a matter of a few weeks they would know if the dream was to become a reality.
"We have two other funding applications due in the next six to eight weeks and if they are forthcoming then we will be celebrating.
"The community of Shepton Mallet have been excellent in supporting us, but now is the time to come forward and give us the absolutely vital last bit of funding, which will help to clinch those last two grants.
"It is an important part of the funding process to be able to show real commitment from the community to this appeal.
"We have had a lot of support but now we need people to, effectively, provide final evidence of tangible local support. We need people to put their hands in their pockets and give a little money – £5 or £10.
"That would show real support from the people of Shepton Mallet and attract the last two grants that would build a facility for Shepton Mallet that would be the very best in mid-Somerset."
Planning permission has to be gained for the new concrete skate park – which would last for generations.
However it is expected that work can get under way early in the next year – and the site would be open by this time next year.
For more on the latest grants see page 11.
Show your support for the Save Shepton Skate Park appeal by leaving a donation on the http://localgiving.com/charity/savesheptonskatepark website.