Manchester’s free-to-access, public-funded spaces for action sports are severely lacking, and skating is banned in large areas of the city centre.
These two factors have resulted in skaters coming together to create DIY skateparks within the city, to provide a safe space to enjoy their sport for free. Taking on the Fog Lane project are two Manchester brothers, Gareth Breeze and Christian D’Andrea, who want to help to improve the park and make it safe for all those wishing to skate in the local area.
Fog Lane Skatepark will embrace the collaborative spirit of DIY skateparks and build a safe, high-quality venue for skaters of all ages, by crowdsourcing design ideas for the space from the skating community.
In order to achieve this, the Mancunian brothers aim to engage with the local community via social media and meet-ups to shape the design of the park, keeping the community at the heart of the project.
From there the final design will be created with the help of skatepark builders, and an official fundraising goal will be set. The crowdfunding, grants and other donations will be used to build the skatepark and achieve the goal of redesigning and rebuilding a brand new safer skatepark.
Once the fundraising for Fog Lane Skatepark is secured, Gareth and Christian will be looking to collaborate with other Manchester artists to fill the space with street-art and showcase the wealth of artistic talent within the city.
Gareth and Christian of EBGB Studios, a family run Manchester based creative studio, have volunteered their services to give Fog Lane Park the skatepark it deserves. The pair are excited about the prospect of combining their passion for skating with the experience of the studio to make Manchester a better place to skate.
Breeze, Founder of EBGB Studios, said: “From the first time I nervously rolled into Bones – Stockport in 1999, to now trying to relearn old tricks, skating has always provided some form of escape and adventure. We’re determined to give back to the sport that has given us so much. We know that this campaign to redevelop Fog Lane Skatepark is likely to be a long one, and we’re both in it for the long haul!”
For now, the brothers plan to raise the profile of the project to boost the fundraising prospects and to potentially secure temporary provisions to improve the space in the short term.
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