The local community in Millbrook and surrounding areas of the Rame Peninsula have raised over £25,000, on a crowdfunder in less than five days for a new Skatepark in Millbrook, South East Cornwall - but they desperately need more support to raise money and unlock match funding.

The community have come together to launch the crowdfunder in a bid to save the skatepark and create a new one of wider benefit to the whole community.

“After 20 years of daily use, Millbrook skatepark is much loved but is now falling apart. As recently as this August yet another rusting ramp was towed away. There’s have a passionate and active local wheeled community of young skaters, scooters and BMX-ers and we want to give them the skatepark they deserve,” said Sandy Stevenson, of the Millbrook Skatepark Project (MSP) committee.

The skatepark is one of the very few facilities for this remote and rural part of Cornwall.

“It has always been more than just a skatepark,” said Hetty Kalantar (MSP). “Over the years, it has been, and still is, a place for gathering, a place to gain new skills, learn, develop, build new relationships and improve health and wellbeing.

At Millbrook skaters, scooters and BMX riders have learnt new tricks and honed their skills, friendships have been forged between people from different social backgrounds, that have endured from childhood well into adulthood.”

Millbrook Skatepark Project was formed in 2021 by a volunteer group of local parents, skaters and BMXers to transform the current skatepark into a fit-for-purpose concrete-wheeled sports area.

Before the crowdfunder, the group had already managed to raise £4,500 of funds through fundraising events, which given the size of the village (albeit referred to as the biggest village in Cornwall), shows the amount of local support that the project has generated. However, estimates to rebuild the skate park are between £175-200,000 and so the team have launched a crowdfunder.

The crowdfunder was launched on Wednesday 28th September at Patchwork Studios, Maker, with a target of £30,000 and within 24 hours raised circa £5,000 with 100 supporters.

This figure has subsequently risen to £25,000 with the addition of a £20,000 pledge by Millbrook Parish Council, which is supporting the project.

Aaron Barrett, chair of the Millbrook Skatepark Project said: “We are blown away by the support we have been given by the amazing people and businesses from the Rame Peninsula and further afield, for people to dig deep to give us what they can at the moment just shows how much people want this. They can see that the young people in our area need this and the benefits it will have in an area lacking facilities for our youngsters.

“But we have a way to go and are keen that the wider community pledge on the skatepark crowdfund and do what they can to help make this brilliant idea happen.”

The crowdfunder will run until the end of October. To support visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/millbrook-skatepark