Government Funding Allocated To Scotland’s Rinks
We are delighted to announce that of the £2m of Scottish Government funding, promised to help support independent rinks across the country, £1.75m has now been allocated.
This marks the culmination of a successful ‘Save our Rinks’ campaign by Scottish Curling and the Scottish Ice Rink Association, which saw coverage in national press and radio outlets.
The Minister for Sport made the decision to support the independent ice rinks on 10 December 2020, in order to mitigate the unique hardship being experienced by these very energy intensive type of sports facilities.
The funding was primarily to help those who had invested significant time and money, only to be forced to suspend and then stop activity all together as restrictions tightened.
Ice rinks submitted applications for the funding in January, and we are happy to say twelve ice rinks have received offers and will receive payments by the end of March.
Bruce Crawford, CEO of Scottish Curling:
“We are delighted that the Scottish Government investment has been allocated and will help to sustain ice rinks into the future. We are focussed now on the job of getting people back into the ice rinks at the start of the next season, after what for most will have been an 18-month break.”
He added:
“The coming season is critical for our sport, as it sees the Olympic and Paralympic Games in February and March, putting the spotlight on curling and helping to attract new people to our great game which originated in Scotland in the 1500’s.
People will be able to visit www.TryCurling.com to find out how and where to get started, to watch, learn and play the sport.”
Mike Ferguson, chairman of the Scottish Ice Rink Association, campaigned hard to ensure the support was granted:
‘’During what has been a testing and stressful time for many, ice rinks have had to contend with their own unique set of problems with the vast majority missing out on an entire season of ice sports. The funding package agreed by Scottish Government, and administered by SportScotland for independent ice rinks, will prove an invaluable lifeline and help many rinks survive the summer months and be in a position to re-open when allowed to do so.
I would like to personally thank all those involved in the process and wish everyone well as we move forward and emerge from these COVID dominated times.’’
We would also like to take this opportunity to give our sincere thanks to all those who supported the campaign, from the Olympians and World Champion Athletes who gave their time freely, to all those who tweeted or shared content on social media.
Every single bit helped, and we are grateful for your collective effort.
