Windermere Park for All

We are absolutely thrilled to share that Westmorland and Furness Council has awarded Windermere Park for All a £5,000 Children & Young People Grant towards the redevelopment of the skatepark on Queens Park.

This is wonderful news, and we are enormously grateful to the Council for their continued backing of our project.

It is hard to overstate just how supportive the Council, and its predecessor South Lakeland District Council, have been since we first set out in 2017. From the very earliest conversations about the playground, through the pump track, and now with the skatepark, both authorities have bent over backwards to help us at every turn. That partnership has been the bedrock of everything Windermere Park for All has achieved, and the committee could not be happier to see it continue.

This latest grant brings us another significant step closer to delivering a modern, inclusive concrete skatepark for the next generation of riders in Windermere. Our fundraising work continues, and we will keep pushing to close the remaining gap so that construction can get underway.

A huge thank you to Westmorland and Furness Council, to all our funders, and to everyone in the community who continues to cheer us on.

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We are delighted to announce two further contributions confirmed towards the Windermere Park For All skatepark project.

We have been pledged £2,000 from The Hadfield Trust and £5,000 from South Lakes Housing, taking us another step closer to unlocking the refurbishment and rebuild of the skatepark.

The Hadfield Trust is a long-standing Cumbrian charity that has awarded over £4 million in grants since 1998, supporting projects across the county that improve quality of life, particularly in areas such as youth development, social need and the environment. (Hadfield Trust)

South Lakes Housing is the largest provider of affordable rented housing in South Lakeland, operating as an independent, not-for-profit housing association with a strong focus on investing in communities and supporting local people through housing and wider initiatives. (South Lakes Housing)

These contributions are hugely appreciated and reflect the strength of local support behind the project.

Committee member Amy Brunton said: “It is absolutely amazing, and such good news. A huge thank you to both The Handfield Trust, and South Lakes Housing for these fantastic contributions.”

While this is another important milestone, our fundraising continues. The team is working hard to secure further support and close the remaining gap, bringing us ever closer to delivering a modern skatepark facility for the next generation.

We would like to thank all of our funders and supporters who have helped us get to this stage, and we look forward to sharing more updates soon.

We are delighted to share another major milestone in the journey to bring a new skate park to our community on Queens Park (the Rec) through Windermere Park For All.

Thanks to a fantastic wave of recent support, we are now well on our way towards reaching our fundraising goal, bringing us ever closer to making this much-needed facility a reality.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to our latest funders for their generous commitments:

• United Utilities – https://www.unitedutilities.com
• Cumberland Building Society – https://www.cumberland.co.uk
• Impact International – https://www.impactinternational.com
• Windermere and Bowness Town Council – https://www.windermere-tc.gov.uk
• Windermere & Ambleside Lions Club – https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/windermereambleside

Their support, alongside our existing funders, most notably Westmorland and Furness Council, represents a huge step forward for the project.

This collective backing means we are now even closer to moving ahead with delivering a high-quality skate park that will benefit local young people, families, and visitors for years to come.

Fundraising continues with the community of Windermere, and the Windermere Park for All committee, continuing their efforts to bring in the £pounds needed to deliver this much needed improvement to the Park.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported the project so far, and we look forward to sharing further updates as the fundraising continues and we move ever closer to construction!

Windermere Park for All are full steam towards delivering the long awaited skate park refurbishment for Queens park. The committee is approaching new funders (and some kind supporters of the playground and pump track too!) to deliver a modern, long lasting and fresh skate park for the community.

The skate park in Queen’s Park in Windermere is over 25 years old and has been so well used that it is now in desperate need of an upgrade and renovation. The existing skate ramps are of the old modular metal and wood frame construction, which are outdated and do not cater for children with different physical abilities.

The plan is for the space to be completely redeveloped to feature a new modern concrete bowl skatepark, which can be used by skateboarders, scooter riders and roller skaters / bladers. Concrete is now the only outdoor skate park construction material recommended by SkateBoard UK, Sport England and The Skatepark Foundation. Wood and metal ramps are no longer considered sufficiently safe, accessible, inclusive or durable.

Concrete requires greater up-front investment, but pays back over time by being more resistant to climatic conditions, requiring less maintenance and being harder to vandalise. It is the quietest riding surface, minimising noise issues for local residents and providing a seamless riding surface with no fixtures and fittings to rot or rust. It can be finished into shapes that are not easily replicated in wood or composite material enabling more interesting designs and layouts. The natural shapes of a bowl can be easily blended into the existing topography of an area, giving a more aesthetically pleasing and unintrusive design.

According to ROSPA, concrete bowl skate parks also have significant safety benefits over modular ramp structures.

Skateboarding is now an established, high profile sport at the Olympics, which is encouraging a new generation of riders. Our skate park will be designed, created and project managed by one of the UK’s leading concrete skate park constructors, with input from local skaters, riders and other park users to ensure Windermere gets an innovative and long lasting facility the whole community can be proud of.

Members of the public turned out in Windermere at the weekend to celebrate the official opening of two major new facilities at Queen’s Park, a £50,000 cycle track and a £120,000 refurbished play area.

Crowds gathered on Saturday to watch professional riders put the new pump track through its paces, including BMX rider Kyle Evans, who represented Great Britain at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and Windermere slopestyle rider Morgan Doughty. Their demonstrations impressed spectators as they showcased the track’s speed, flow and technical potential.

Evans, 28, retired from the sport in 2018 and now works for Clark & Kent Contractors, the company that designed the track.

“We are all very proud to have a project on the ground in the beautiful landscape of Windermere,” said the former European champion and Olympian. “The opening was a fantastic success and it was great to see around 50 people of all ages and abilities riding the pump track.”

He added: “My best advice to anyone would be to get yourself a bike, a skateboard, whatever you feel most comfortable taking part on, get a helmet and just go and give it a go.”

The refurbishment of the playground and the creation of the cycle track were made possible thanks to four years of fundraising by South Lakeland District Council and the community group Windermere Park For All.

Windermere district councillor Ben Berry, who cut the ribbon on the pump track and is chairman of Windermere Park For All, said: “When we set out on our mission over four years ago, we wanted to not only refurbish and refresh, but to bring new facilities and new enjoyment to our park.

“The official opening of our new playground and pump track is a massive milestone in our goal – our next step being to replace and rebuild our skate park into a modern facility fit for an entire generation.”

Designed to have universal appeal, the pump track allows cyclists to generate momentum by ‘pumping’ their bikes along the circuit using up-and-down body movements rather than pedalling. The track has been in use since September, while the playground has been open to families since July.

The ribbon on the playground was cut by schoolgirl Molly Lawrence, who designed Windermere Park For All’s rainbow logo.

The projects were supported by donations from a range of groups and organisations, including English Lakes Hotels Resorts and Venues, which gifted £20,000 towards the pump track.

Photos courtesy of the wonderful photographer Zuzka Sue Dlholucká

Following years of hard work, fundraising, community action and consultation Queens Park in Windermere is a hive of activity as demolition and construction of a brand new playground and pump track are now underway.

Check out these shots taken by our very own Windermere Park For All committee member Amy Brunton:

Bye Bye old equipment! You’ve done a great job for so many years!

Windermere Park for All was delighted to showcase the top notch designs for the new Queens Park playground. Featuring brand new equipment and show stopping items the community excitement continues to grow following the longstanding and hard fought campaign to renew and replace this amazing asset.

The designs came from intense feedback from stakeholders, including hundreds of local school children who were engaged in group sessions by Windermere Park for All and South Lakeland District Council.

The design team focused on ensuring that there was equipment suitable for a wide range of ages. Windermere Park for All committee members also wanted to make sure that the equipment was both challenging and unique, especially in contrast to other local parks.

A community campaign to refurbish part of a well used park in Windermere has got a new logo thanks to local Children.

A logo design competition for the project was run through Windermere’s local primary schools, with nearly one hundred designs being submitted. The designs were whittled down to just four with a presentation for the Winner, second place and two runners up having taken place on the Rec on Sunday (12th May).

Local mum Vikki Bolton, who is a member of the Windermere Park for All committee, thanked all the children who had worked so hard putting together designs:

“The number and quality of the designs was excellent, it just shows how engaged our community is in working toward a better park for all.”

The Winner was Molly Lawrence who will not only have her design used as the campaign logo, including integration into the design of the park, but also bagged goodies including a family cruise pass courtesy of Windermere Lake Cruises and some chocolates.

Speaking at the awards ceremony on the Rec local Councillor Ben Berry praised Molly’s design saying:

“We loved how Molly integrated Windermere Park for All, users of the park and a very happy rainbow in one design. It will show our funders what we are all about and I hope we can get it immortalized here on the park.”

Also thanked were Lucia Musetti, Georgina Boden and Gemma Hayton all of whom had designs that were shortlisted by the Committee.

A campaign has been launched hoping to secure hundreds of thousands of pounds to invest in a popular playground and park in Windermere.

Windermere Park for All is a constituted group that is working with local Authorities to realise an exciting vision for a new playground and outdoor activity space on Windermere’s Queen’s Park (more commonly known as The Rec). The team is keen to listen and work with residents to see the improvements made. The group was not set up by the Council, but by residents keen to improve an important asset for the town.

Vikki Bolton, a mother of two and a local school teacher, commented on the launch of the group saying:

“We are very excited to get this campaign underway. The playground is very well used but the equipment is tired and the ground conditions aren’t ideal. As a group we have an exciting vision that we hope everyone can get involved and engaged with. We are so excited to be working towards a better park for all.”

Windermere Park for All have already met with the landowner, South Lakeland District Council, who are said to be very positive about what the project is hoping to put forward.

A budget has yet to be set but the group are looking for any and all support from Individuals, Trusts, Community Service Organisations, local businesses and the Council. The Group stress that at this stage community involvement is more important than money. The Group want to work with everyone and anyone who wants to be involved.

Chair of Windermere Park for All is Windermere’s Councillor Ben Berry:

“Some of the facilities on Queens park have needed renovation for years, I am very excited that we have an opportunity not only to look to renovate those but to bring new facilities to this wonderful park in the heart of our community.”