The campaign to build a new skate park in Beccles has been given a boost following a festive fundraiser and three cheque presentations.

The Beccles Skate Park Committee, which formed in the summer to come up with ideas to improve the skate park in the town, held its second Skate Fete last Friday at the town’s Christmas lights event, raising just under £500 for the fundraising pot.

And this week three cheques totalling £650 have been presented to the cause.

The idea is to replace the town’s existing wooden skate park in Common Lane, which is old and becoming dangerous, and replace it with a modern concrete park which will be easier to maintain.

The first Skate Fete was held in August, with over 200 skateboarders of all ages turning out to have their say on the improvements they would like to see.

Nik Rose, chairman of the committee, said: “We are now ready to start fundraising and we have had a couple of designs sent to us by a skate park company to give us an idea of what we could do.

“We are not sure on the cost because it all depends what design we go for so we are just going to go full steam ahead with the fundraising.”

Committee members gathered at the skate park on Monday to receive a cheque for £100 from the organisers of the Beccles Real Craft Festival, which was held on November 21.

Verity Chapman, co-organiser of the festival, said: “We wanted to support the skate park because we know that it is in need of a revamp and it’s a facility that is used by a lot of young people in the area.

“They deserve somewhere to enjoy that is well maintained.

“It is a good facility because it promotes health and fitness and it’s a great meeting place for the community.”

A further cheque for £500 was donated by Beccles town councillor Graham Catchpole from his Mayor’s Appeal in 2012, which was put aside for youth sports, and £50 from Richard Stubbings, who runs Kulture Shock, which was raised through a drinks stall at the Skate Fete.

The town council has also earmarked some funds for the project.

James Pitkin and James Hurrell, both 15, are part of the skate park committee.

They said: “The designs that we have seen so far look really good so it is all going well. We want to hold some more skate competitions and other events for people that don’t skate so we can get everyone involved.”