Skate park gets spruce up

Local youngsters lead a hand

Around 15 local young people will give Carlisle's skate park a spruce up next week.

Between Monday (23 July) and Wednesday (25 July), members of SPAM (Skate Park Action Meeting) will be giving the Devonshire Walk based area a fresh lick of paint. Carlisle City Council staff will lend a hand too.

Using paint funded by the County Council's Local Carlisle Area Committee and equipment from the City Council, the paint job will include new designs, put forward by the skate park users.

The surfaces of the ramps will include outlines of people using the park alongside lyrics and phrases from some of the users favourite songs. The ongoing project is not intended to cover all the walls at one time as the aim is to inspire other skate park users to get involved at later dates. Some of the paint will be set aside for future use.

The works will start at around 11am on Monday (23 July) morning and will involve covering the existing graffiti and giving the general site a clear-up.

Work is expected to be completed by next Wednesday afternoon in time for a local Skate Jam event planned for a week later (Wednesday, 1 August). Organised by SPAM, Carlisle City Council and Team Extreme, the event will be staged between 10am and 6pm.

Music workshops, coaching sessions and competitions will be held throughout the day. Aimed at young people of all ages, all competitors must wear safety gear (a limited amount will be available on the day). Registration is on the day, however parental consent is required for young people aged 16 or under who wish to take part in the competitions. Forms are available by emailing youngpeople@carlisle.gov.uk or by texting SKATE to 07790 801322, with a name and address.

The event is opened to all skateboarders, rollerbladers and BMX bikers

The programme will consist of participants showing off their skills with prizes awarded for 'best trick', 'best effort' and 'best overall' along with a spectator's vote.