Page 18 - link magazine

18 The Link Magazine • July 2002
Graffiti artists to get their wall back
uklinks4 A West Swindon councillor has been successful in getting a graffiti wall repaired for a second time.

The wall at Mannington provides one of the few legal sites for graffiti artists in Swindon, but vandals
destroyed it for the second time.
There are some Built in Autumn 2000 to give artists somewhere to work, Toothill councillor David Cox managed to get
great resources Swindon Services to rebuild the all last October after vandalism. After discussion at the Toothill
Neighbourhood Safety Team
on the Internet. r ' (NeST) the other Toothill council-
- = "-- for Mary Martin, left, has managed
But do you know • s y' to persuade Swindon Services to
i ^ { ^ repair it again.
where they are? , E "There are talented young artists
around who need a place to express
j
We do! ^_ • ( themselves," said Mary. "It's those
who scribble tags in public places
who are costing the council money
www.uklinks4.com on cleaning up their mess.
"It's a great pity that vandals can't
leave the walls alone."

SK8 gets going
Youngsters all over Swindon are crying out for skateboard facilities
and are increasingly frustrated by the lack of action by Swindon
Council.
Now after months
One unit cools in summer - heats in winter of waiting West
Swindon young-
Cooling only, or heating and cooling sters have some-
air conditioning units supplied, installed & serviced where safe to de-
Caswell Refrigeration Ltd velop their skate-
board skills, rather
Also specialists in all aspects of commercial refrigeration
than irritate the
Unit 3 Cannons Ind. Est., Station Rd, Woo tton Bassett , Swindon neighbours, or travel
Tel: 01793 840401 Fax: 01793 840402 to skateparks in
Caine or Chippen-
Call now for a free no obligation quotation ham.
Approved dealers for Daikin, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi and Carrier The Mayor of
Swindon, Stan
Pajak, performed his
first official duty on
18 May by visiting
the skateboard site ayor, about to drop-
• ri • 1 .
in the Link Centre haun Zerebecki and
coach park, but re- e Litlington at SK8 in
sisted the opportu- the Link Centre coach par t'
Community Dividend nity to try out the Parent Kester Kelly, who lent
equipment.
Young people with the help of his woodworking skills to the
Scheme local youth workers came up with project, said, "the lads have done a
A minimum the idea of starting their own skate brilliant job; they've been really
committed and put in a lot of effort
park and building ramps, half
of 1% of pipes and boxes. Although they to get the skate equipment built.
completed the work in January, There are good skate parks in Caine
the Society's assisted by parents and funding and Chippenham, even Lechlade
profits are from the Swindon Crime and Dis- has one. It amazes all of us that the
returned to order Team, it has taken months council just don't seem to be inter-
for Swindon Council to agree in- ested in this age group."
projects surance terms and set the condi- West community and youth
to benefit tions on which the kit can be used. team leader Caroline Starling said
Skateboard sessions run on Mon- youngsters from other parts of
the local day and Wednesday evenings be- Swindon have been turned away
community Help for the Sport on Saturday Club at the tween 6.30pm and 8.30pm, but from the skate sessions. "We've
Haydon Centre. Sean Varney, manager of
through the the Rodbourne Cheney Co-op, centre, users must have parental consent. had to explain that local young
The council requires users to wear
people had built the equipment
Community with Keith Bell, Fran Pound, helmets but not elbow or knee and that the site is just not geared
Christina Blackmore, James Hased, pads. up to large numbers."
Dividend Scheme. Kayleigh Berry Shaun Zerebecki from Fresh-
brook, who helped build the equip- Youth workers needed
If you think a project you know of could qualify for a
ment, said it had taken too long to SK8 could open more often if
grant of up to £1 ,000, call 0800 435902 get the skateboard sessions going. more youth workers were avail-
for more information We made the ramps and half pipes able. Paid and voluntary sessions
S. last December and they were safety are available. For details call the
Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester inspected months ago, but we kept West youth team on 465466 even
being told that the council were if just to offer to help setup or put
unhappy about the insurance." away equipment.