Trust has return of ice rink covered in Aviemore

Plans to open a seasonal ice rink in Aviemore are on track – in fact they are now running ahead of schedule.

Such has been the tremendous response to the community appeal to raise a minimum of £85,000 that organisers have now set a target for October 9-10, to catch the start of the half-term school holidays rather than in December.

A fundraiser quiz and raffle on Sunday in the village’s British Legion rooms raised a further £448, taking the total so far to a wonderful £64,000.

Aviemore and Glenmore Community Trust (AGCT) has said it has been overwhelmed with the support that has flooded in both financially and in kind since the official launch of the appeal in February this year. As a result the large marquee measuring 30 metres by 15 metres which will house the ice rink has just been acquired, and there is only a short way to get the rink itself over the line.

But AGCT has said that efforts must continue to ensure that there is also enough to cover the costs of the first six to seven months of operation, with an estimated budgeted running cost of £6000 per week.

They then hope that the 20 metres by 12 metres real ice rink facility will become financially self-sustainable.

AGCT’s Duncan Swarbrick said they always knew the double whammy of buying the rink and infrastructure and meeting the running bills in the first year would be the toughest challenge.

But Mr Swarbrick and fellow supporters are delighted with how well the project is going for the rink to be installed at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort, who he said had provided “unstinting support”.

Mr Swarbrick said: “We have just recently bought the marquee and it is now being stored safely.

“We have the last payment of around £14,000 to pay on the rink, and I am confident that we will have that, but there are still other significant costs such as the electrical installation which is in the region of £4000 to £5000.

“We are finding ways of reducing these kinds of costs, with stone mason Mark Bruce digging the ditch, and we will be borrowing plant equipment to do that.”

The efforts received a massive boost, with confirmation of £25,000 from the Cairngorms National Park Authority’s Green Recovery Fund in June. Half of this money has been used to meet half of the cost of the marquee.

Mr Swarbrick explained: “Having a marquee over the rink will provide a significant energy saving as there is no wind or rain sweeping across it and so saves a significant amount of electricity.”

The intention is to run the rink daily from opening through to the end of the Easter holidays, with later night openings at the weekends

There are hopes that the rink will be delivered in the latter part of September.

Mr Swarbrick said: “A massive thank you to everyone who has already donated and supported the project to get us this far.”

n More details on the project and donations at the Aviemore Community Ice Facebook page.

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