Park problems, need inspiration

[rosscoe]

been running the radcliife park for about 8 years now with help from 3 or 4 dedicated volunteers. Two years ago our insurance premium jumped from 350pa to 3500p, just for public liability. Weve had no claims in the 11 years weve been there (touch wood) but apparently skateparks are high risk




We have now run out of funds, nobody does grants for maintenance / revenue costs,we dont charge to use and are quickly running out of ideas.

We have funds to insure it for another 4 months, after that we are at risk of having to close the park - which will break my heart and be a huge loss to the midlands...

does anybody out there hav any suggestions or have experienced similar difficulties? We do local fund raising stuff which gets us a couple of hundred a year, but due to the small number of people on the comittee, all of whom work full time and most have families to look after, we struggle to put any more time into it than we do already......need a magic wand anybody help??? 

[TwoBobRob]

A corporate sponsor of some sort, a couple of well organised jams a year, work parties for maintenance......

But I would have thought that flogging sweets/drinks on site wold be the most profitable, and with an instant return on your investment too 

If no-ones available to do it on your behalf, then perhaps you could sell a pitch there?

[welsh denny]

insurance has killed off too many uk sk8parks. cardiff sk8park was privately run and was great but insurance went from £3000 in its 2nd year to £30,000 in its 3rd year.  gareth had to chuck in the towel and close the business.  the welsh scene died quite a bit back then, thankfully it has perked up again now.
cardiff used to hold a few bmx and skate jams throughout the year with some of the better uk riders showing support.
sponsors , jams, anything to get in the public eye can help. local papers, mags etc. as for selling food or drink then that will help bigtime. (unless those sneaky fookers at the council snoop around.)

[diesel]

Have you tried the National Lottery for funds?

Either that or can you tap the riders for funds?

Like Rob said - Corporate sponsorship sounds good

[pickle]

those insurance premiums are rediculous!!  can't you get a disclaimer and get everyone who rides there to sign it?  they way they ride at there own risk??  doesn't that change anything?

[TwoBobRob]

Sadly, those disclaimers aren't worth the paper they're written on, other than to discourage people from claiming....

And public liability covers everyone - ie dog walkers, chavs who fancy a claim, and potentially the worst of them al - showbiz parents. It was quite a significant problem when rollerblading was massive, lots of very young kids doing crazy things because it was so easy, getting hurt and then Mum insisting it was the parks fault and lodging claims against them.

Rosscoe - if you don't mind me asking - how did you come to have that piece of land? If you've struck a deal with the council, then it might be worth contacting the sports officer, the youth officer and the parks officer.  I notice in the background there is a play area. That's insured,as are ALL council facilities for public liability.  Got to be worth a punt. Those three officers all have their own budgets, all have an interest in young people and sports. They might be interested to know that your well kept and claim free park is closing due to lack of funding. As would the local press   

Don't go down without a fight buddy 

[perry]

hold a jam and send them off nicking stereos and mugging old duffers , its what they would be doing if the park wasnt there after all 

[rosscoe]

cheers for the comments guys. The disclaimers are all there - the insurance is public liability

fund raising ideas are all good - weve done jams etc in the past but last one took about 4 months to organise and.......our insurance makes it difficult 

the land is leased foc from the parish council, and I like the idea of the surrounding areas and their insurance....looking into that

key issue is that everybody loves what we do - cause it means they dont have to do it, but when it comes to the £££s they shy away.

Not gonna give up just yet....but feeling a little down about the whole thing. Would be nice to get some time to ride the park rather than maintain it or chase funding....ah well   

[Trev]

I hope it all works out okay for you Ross.
It p*sses me off when places like this have to close down due to finances / insurances etc. Why doesn't the government help out with things like this. After all it is Physical Exercise and that is what they are trying to encourage.
Stop all this b*ll*cks with giving smokers £12 a week if they stop smoking and put the money to more worthwhile causes.

[Broggie]

This is stupid, anyone with half a brain realises that if you hit concrete fast enough its gonna hurt.  Anyone who does bmx understands that even the best fall on their arse sometimes.
I'd try to get included on the insurance of the surrounding play areas...seems the best idea.  Its a shame that the american 'where theres blame, theres a claim' mentality pervades our country now.  I truly reckon if you make enough noise you'll be heard...

Dont give up.



Ray.

[RADHAB]

Have you tried the National Lottery for funds?

Either that or can you tap the riders for funds?

Like Rob said - Corporate sponsorship sounds good

National lottery

Have budget Jams and advertise all over the place, I'm sure anyone that turned up would pay a couple of quid and sign whatever you want to say they would have no recourse should they smash themselves.....or why as a BMX community dont we all organise budget Jams at our local parks and forward the funds to Ross to help out??? I'm sure Windsor would do it for one.

[rosscoe]

Update guys- things are looking a bit better. Managed to find an insurance company that have a team set up to support charities etc. We have just received a quote from them for £430 pa and better cover - so that s cool.

Also having a meeting with County, Borough and Parish councillors at the end of september where we are asking them to provide the running costs for the park every year. This will allow us to focus on developing it - and restarting the annual Jams. We consider that we are providing a facility that they should provide - and whilst we are happy to run it we want then to fund it (just running costs not development)

watch this space - and thanks for the support and ideas

[TwoBobRob]

Happy days   

That sounds like good grounds for the suits to fund the place, all the best with that 

[fuzzynod]

Hi Dude we have had having similar problems in the past but have moved on from it a bit.But are in the same situation reference providing a service for the council of Oxford that they realy should supply in this day and age.We have worked with them and against them getting authority to build a new concrete park which we now have approval for but not the money.
Might be worth contacting Jack our leader on the link on our site I know he has  advised a lot of other projects check out the link on our website.
 http://www.owp.org.uk/

Good Luck 

[sean]

Maybe a celebration Jam  is on the cards then Ross ,before the summer ends

[RADHAB]

Update guys- things are looking a bit better. Managed to find an insurance company that have a team set up to support charities etc. We have just received a quote from them for £430 pa and better cover - so that s cool.

Also having a meeting with County, Borough and Parish councillors at the end of september where we are asking them to provide the running costs for the park every year. This will allow us to focus on developing it - and restarting the annual Jams. We consider that we are providing a facility that they should provide - and whilst we are happy to run it we want then to fund it (just running costs not development)

watch this space - and thanks for the support and ideas

Great news, nice one Ross.

Celebration Jam would be good.

[haro__master1985]

My wife is involved in an afterschool club in Rainworth Nottinghamshire ,which is also a non profit making organisation.

She has recently got a couple of grants for the club through Awards for all ,Local Network and if there was a pit in the area Coal board Regeneration Fund.

She also suggests trying your local MP.

If you like drop me a PM and you can have our number for a chat see if we have any ideas you havnt already covered ?

cheers

Dave