Funding target reached for Forres outdoor gym

THE project team behind an outdoor gym for Forres has reached its funding target of £72,000.

Delighted chairwoman of Forres Community Sports Hub (FSH) Ann Rossiter and former Forres Community Council (FCC) chairwoman Kathleen Robertson have most recently been awarded £45,000 from the Berry Burn Community Fund and £4000 from the Money For Moray participatory budgeting process, topping up £23,000 already raised.

A delighted Ann said: “There are a couple of restrictive clauses dependent on the completion of Moray Council’s learning estate review by the end of September. Further investigative and research work is still to be done and there are ongoing meetings with council officers.The equipment to be purchased will go through a procurement process to ensure best value. It will include a multi-piece and individual units. We are unsure of when work will start but it must be completed by March 2023.”

Following the ‘Planning for Real’ and ‘Forres 2020 Vision’ public consultations of 2015 and 2017 which identified a need for such a facility, FSH, FCC and Forres Academy have been researching and fundraising.

The gym team hopes to install the set-up on the grassed area beside the Academy car park, currently used for PE shot put and long jump.

Ann said: “The facility will be available for the whole community to use, as well as providing an outdoor learning space for the school. The fitness and wellbeing of the community will be enhanced and it will be a hub for groups.”

“We would like to thank the public for supporting the initiative over the last seven years. We are also very grateful for the huge contribution from Berry Burn, Money For Moray, Moray Council’s Developer Obligation Fund, the Arnold Clark Community Fund and a generous donation from FCC member, Colin Lipscomb.”