Athletics arena plan remains on track

Campaign group takes stride forward with bid for charitable status and cycle fundraiser coming up

The campaign to bring an athletics arena to Angus has taken another stride forward as the group is seeking charitable status.

The plans for an outdoor running track in Arbroath are expected to cost more than £1m and charitable status will allow the fundraising group to apply for large grants.

Winston Webber, chairman of the Arbroath and District Athletics Club who are behind the plans, said: “The project is going well.

“We recently agreed a constitution which has a couple of minor changes.

“This will be submitted to OSCR to gain charity status.

“When we have full charity status we will be applying for bigger grants and awards.

“The project is a priority for Scottish Athletics and we will be organising meetings with them and Sport Scotland and other possible stakeholders.”

Local fundraising since the project was launched 18 months ago has raised in excess of £30,000 with a recent boost of £10,000 from Bairds Malt.

The Arbroath branch of TSB has also chosen the athletics arena campaign as its charity cause of the year.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign is expected to be launched this summer.

Vice-chairwoman Cherise Whamond added: “A lot has been happening behind the scenes.

“I’m organising more fundraising over the course of the year and once we get our charitable status the first thing we’ll be doing is looking to Sport Scotland and the lottery for funding.”

Club secretary Paul Leonard is also hoping to boost the fundraising total with a sponsored cycle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

Paul is planning to complete the challenge between June 30 and July 9, cycling between 90 and 100 miles each day.

He said: “I’ve been training since October. In May I covered more than 800 miles with 58 hours in the saddle.

“I’m a bit apprehensive but looking forward to the challenge.

“I’m doing it completely on my own, without a support team. It’s been on my bucket list ever since I took up cycling.”

Paul’s training hit a setback when his bike was stolen in Dundee at the start of April and he was forced to purchase another bike.

He will drum up support for the challenge by cycling all day on a turbo trainer at the Arbroath branch of Morrisons on Saturday.

He added: “I’m going to sit and spin on the bike all day and there will be a bucket for people to make donations. It’s also a good bit of training for me.

“It will also raise awareness of the athletics arena campaign.”

It’s been on my bucket list ever since I took up cycling.

PAUL LEONARD