Hi,

I found this place from an article in the Echo.

I'm not sure if you're aware, but there's a really strong BMX scene in and around Loughborough and Shepshed, all ages from sprogs to early thirties.

You've clearly done a load of ground work already, but we'd really like to help out wherever we can. Helping fund-raising, going to meetings, just let us know and we're there.

A lot of what i'm going to say is probably just repeating history, and going over what you've already spoken about, so please bear with me while i catch up.

One of the first things I have to say is that despite knowing most of the bmx riders in the area (probably 40 or so), none of them knew any firm details about this website, or the skatepark plans. So I really think an important step would be some kind of awareness campaign. To really drum up some knowledge and support. If we riders don't have a clue what's going on, who else is going to know!? This could be in whatever form you like, from a few simple flyers passed out in town, some graff at southfields. Maybe even a little video on a cd posted to the key players here or some sort of jam/street party/fancy dress pub crawl...t-shirts, anything.

Secondly, funding. I have to admit that you're probably leagues ahead of me with research into this. Obviously the university should be contacted. I've had several discussions with security on campus and they repeatedly tell me they have approached the university on our behalf, asking for somewhere for us - it makes their lives easier and gives us a positive representative on campus. I think the university could be a significant player in funding for this. With the amount of student halls they're throwing up all over town, i think it would be more than fair to compensate the community with a little dough for the park.
Also, there are a bunch of students who skate/ride - some of them might actually be on here, again, i don't really know who you are. You're doing a great job, but as an outsider, it's hard to know what's going on.

Similarly, there's a bunch of big local businesses that I'm sure would be able to give a little back. Sainsburies, Tescos, AstraZeneca, 3M, BigW, some of the companies at the EMA airport...and so on. I'd also imagine some of the pubs around town would be pleased to help. The phantom, the orange tree, Echos, Rapture, all would be sympathetic to our cause I'm sure.

Structure. Perhaps I've not looked around here enough yet - (the fact that someone has finally grown some balls and is doing something has got me really fired up! Good work boys and girls.) So do you have any organisational structure as yet? Who are the key contacts? Who's speaking on behalf of the skatepark users? Who's representing us on the council? Who do we have to win over on the council? Are there any fund raising/awareness events organised?

What's the next step?

I'm ready to get cracking.
(sadly, I live and work in Brussels - Belgium, but I'll do all I can from here and I'll be sure to rally some troops back in the 'borough and get them to represent whenever you need them)

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Chris Harker

chris.harker@dhl.com