Projekts MCR has announced a month-long community fundraising campaign which is offering the city’s community the chance to help shape the identity of Manchester, by owning a share of a pioneering space under the Mancunian Way as it is transformed into one of the largest managed concrete skateparks in the UK.
The not-for-profit Co-operative and Community Benefit Society is looking to create a vibrant community space for local young people and their families.
The skatepark’s aspiration over the next year is to expand its current ramp capacity by an additional 700sqm of concrete ramps for all abilities, allowing the team to work with up to 10,000 more under serviced young people each year.
In order to facilitate this expansion, the skatepark hopes to raise up to £200,000 through a Community Share Offer.
This crowdfunding will offer the community the opportunity to own a share of the organisation, in return for vital funding which will facilitate the growth of the skatepark and enable it to offer even more educational, health, well-being and work programmes for hard to reach members of the community.
As well as the benefits to Projekts MCR, the donation will also have clear benefits to the investor. As well as the potential to own a piece of Manchester’s most unique spaces, investors will also be eligible for Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR).
Projekts MCR is run by people living locally, looking to have the maximum positive impact on communities surrounding the skatepark.
The area is one of the most deprived in England, with eight council wards that fall within the 10% most deprived in the country within a two mile radius of the park.
For the last five years, Projekts MCR has seen skatepark attendance from people living in those areas shoot up with the creation of female only classes, adults’ classes and reaching over 3,000 children a year through skateboard coaching classes.
Currently, the skatepark sees over 18.000 visits a year and delivers over 20 coaching sessions a week to schools and youth related groups in Greater Manchester.
Funding will enable growth of the skatepark to occupy an additional 700m2 with concrete ramps, the city’s first skate cafe, community space and a spectator viewing platform, all carefully designed to enhance ramp use and increase capacity for all users, all abilities and all activity types. Plus the creation of a youth engagement room and meeting space to provide classes, coaching and training for even more young people.
The increased space will reduce overheads by replacing the costly wooden skatepark with the more robust concrete surface. The increased capacity will generate more income through entrance fees, parties, events and coaching classes anchoring their potential for growth. The viewing area will allow parents to see their children across the whole skatepark, enhancing security and safety for all participants.
The expansion will also increase the capacity for group and individual skateboarding lessons, birthday parties and private hire as well as allowing hire of the site by other community organisations and for expansion of our youth work and educational programmes.
John Haines, CEO of Projekts MCR, said; “In recent years we have seen a real appetite from the community to support the vital work we do here at Projekts MCR. They are as passionate as we are about offering a positive space for underserved kids to thrive and we feel that offering them a chance to actually own part of the organisation as it grows is the best way to say thank you and deliver on our commitment to help more and more people.
“It’s not all worthy – skateboarding is fun and so is Projekts MCR. We want to create a space that people love to spend time in, a space that Manchester can be really proud of. £200,000 is a big undertaking and we want to thank everyone who supports us.”
