A Richmond mum’s dream of creating somewhere for her children and other local youngsters to ride their bikes has become a reality after a bike park opened in North Yorkshire at the weekend.
Richmond Bike Park welcomed its first riders on Saturday, more than two years after Louise Raine came up with the idea of providing a dedicated place for young people to enjoy cycling.
And despite organisers deliberately keeping the opening low-key, youngsters wasted no time in trying out the new facility.
The mother of three said: “We opened under the radar a little bit on Saturday because we didn’t want big crowds, but literally within minutes of us putting the announcement out, there were local kids up there.
“So that first afternoon was busy, and then yesterday, there were children there from eight in the morning till eight at night.”
The opening marks the culmination of two and a half years of fundraising, planning and hard work by volunteers, businesses and supporters.
Louise said the response from the community had been overwhelming.
“Even on Saturday morning, we had some safety signage to put up and some fencing to take down, and we had new volunteers turn up saying they wanted to help and support it.
“The comments have all been really positive – it’s a bit overwhelming really.
“Two and a half years down the line, and it’s already doing what we wanted it to do, which was give somewhere for the local kids to ride.”
The project has attracted significant financial backing, including £85,000 from Harmony Energy and other sources including The National Lottery, Sport England, Broadacres Housing Association and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
But Louise said the contributions of smaller local businesses and individuals had been just as important.
“We’ve had such a range of people donating. You’ve got the big corporate companies like Harmony Energy, which gave us £85,000, and we had some funding from the mayoral fund.
“But I think the support that has made the biggest difference has maybe been all the individual local companies – the one-man bands who’ve turned up and dug a bit of the path and given up a day of their time.
“I made a list and there must be more than 50 local companies who have helped in some way.”
With the park now open, attention is turning to keeping it safe and well maintained.
Around 18 volunteers have already agreed to take part in a weekly rota to inspect the trails, while organisers are hoping to recruit more people to help with litter picking and general upkeep.
Louise said: “What we need now is a good core team of volunteers who can help maintain the area.
“We’ve got a team of around 18 volunteers who have agreed to work on a weekly rota, checking the trails to make sure everything is running smoothly and safely.”
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There are also plans to introduce coaching sessions from the spring, with volunteer coaches undergoing training and younger volunteers being supported to gain qualifications.
Louise said the aim was to make the most of the new facility and ensure it benefited as many people as possible.
The park is already attracting interest from organisations beyond Richmond, including Darlington-based Future Pathways, which is bringing a group of students to visit.