Sept 19, 2023

Millbrook Skatepark Awarded £20,000 Grant by Ginsters and Cornwall Bakery

Millbrook Skatepark, located in Cornwall, has been awarded a £20,000 grant by the makers of Ginsters Pasties and the Cornwall Bakery. The grant will help fund a new concrete skatepark from the Sports Opportunity Fund.

The current skatepark, which has been in use for over 20 years, is falling apart and in need of replacement. The Millbrook Skatepark Project was launched, working with Millbrook Parish Council, to rebuild it and create a new local park that is safe and accessible for the community.

The new skatepark will benefit the community in many ways. It will provide a safer and more inclusive community hub that is free for all to use. It will also improve the health and well-being of young people and create multi-generational engagement opportunities.

“We are delighted that Samworth Brothers have made this award to help us create a new skatepark for Millbrook, a beautiful but remote part of Cornwall, which has few facilities for young people,” said Sandy Stevenson, Fundraising Lead for the Millbrook Skatepark Project. “Creating a new skatepark will benefit not only young people, creating opportunities for health, wellbeing and connection but also the entire community, creating opportunities for economic impact and a community focus.”

The grant from the Sports Opportunity Fund will be used to fund the ramps and street furniture for the new skatepark. “The trustees of Samworth Brothers Sports Opportunity Fund are delighted to make an award of £20,000 towards the ramps and street furniture, perpetuating the historical relationship started when Ginsters provided funding for the original skatepark,” said Simon Wookey, Joint Chair of the Sports Opportunity Fund and also Chief Commercial Officer for Samworth Brothers.

The new skatepark aims to make Millbrook a better place to live, reduce offending including nuisance behaviour and minor crime, and reduce social isolation in the community. It will also put Millbrook on the ‘skate safari’ map and encourage sport tourism.

To secure additional funding, the Millbrook Skatepark Project launched a crowdfunding campaign on www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/millbrookskatepark which raised over £60,000 from the local community, businesses and organisations like Sport England, British Cycling, Devon and Cornwall Police and Millbrook Parish Council. “Showing local support was vital to secure grant funding,” said Stevenson. “If you would like more information, want to contribute to funding, have ideas or can help in any way, please do get in touch.”

The Millbrook Skatepark Project hopes to create a new skatepark that is equal to others in other areas of Cornwall and the UK. “Our young people are excited and aspire to a better skatepark,” said the Millbrook Skatepark Project. “We think they deserve better and hope you do too.”

For more information, visit https://www.millbrookskatepark.co.uk or follow @millbrookskatepark on Instagram and Facebook.