A Moray skate park has undergone a £86,000 revamp thanks to the local community.
Keith’s Cuthil Park skating facilities had been deteriorating for years before locals stepped in to improve it and ensure youngsters had somewhere to skate and bike.
Now the Keith Rollerbladers, BMX and Skateboarders group (KERB) has proudly reopened the park to the public – and it is already proving popular.
Secretary Nicola Paton-Cruickshank said: “We’ve gone through three phases of redevelopment and last weekend we got our final ramps installed in the park and then reopened to the public.
“The whole place has been renovated and now looks much better.
“The kids are enjoying it as well, and they’ve been sending us lots of videos performing tricks at the park.”
The final phase of the revamping involved installing two quarter pipes, a spine, a fun box and a skateable bench, which cost £39,000. It was funded by Tesco Bags of Help, Moray Leader and Edintore Community Benefit Fund.
This followed on from previous renovations including a new half pipe and three small 4ft ramps being built in.
Mrs Paton-Cruickshank thanked the community for getting behind the fundraising efforts for the work, and added: “We applied for various local community-based funding and also held some other events like tombolas and coffee mornings which were quite successful.
“The skate park is a big thing in Keith because locally everyone knows at least one person who uses the park.”
The skate park is still not 100% completed, with upgrades needed for the existing equipment.
“We are still looking to raise money for a wee beginners area for kids aged three and over so they can start out slowly and improve themselves as right now there is nothing like that in the park,” said Mrs Paton-Cruickshank.
“Also the half pipe isn’t wide enough so we are looking to get it extended as well.”