Ice rink is hailed as ‘a beacon of hope’

Success surrounding Horsham’s first indoor ice rink is being hailed as ‘a beacon of hope’ to other businesses in the pandemic.

The Rec Rink - on the edge of Horsham Park - has announced that it is to stay open until the end of March after attracting thousands of skaters since its opening in December.

Horsham District Council which created the ice rink jointly with the Rec Rooms team says the venue “has exceeded all expectations in terms of the volume of people wishing to enjoy its facilities, attracting both local skaters and visitors from far outside the county.”

Rec Rink spokesperson Lily Proto said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank local people and Horsham District Council for supporting us in this project, without this support we would not have been as successful as we have been.

“Against all odds, we can confidently say that we have broken the mould of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

“Horsham District Council should be hugely proud of this achievement, their faith in us and support is a beacon of hope for other business projects going forward.”

Horsham District Council leader Jonathan Chowen added: “We were really pleased to support the development of the town’s first indoor ice rink with vital government funding at this key time for post-pandemic economic recovery.

“As a council our economic development strategy very much focuses on helping to create new business avenues for local entrepreneurs.

“Horsham district businesses have rallied really well since the start of lockdown easing, creating much needed new local job opportunities, and funding such as this will do much to build upon the very positive recovery that we are already seeing across our towns and villages.”

The Rec Rink will be open for public skating with sessions on Thursday evenings and all day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. To date more than 13,000 skaters have been welcomed and over 1,000 free tickets have been given away to local businesses.

For more details and to apply for business support funding, visit: www.horsham.gov.uk/ coronavirus/coronavirusbusiness-support-grants