OKEHAMPTON Town Council has allocated £500 of gift aid to the Okehampton Skate Project.

In May the council allocated £10,000 to be distributed to local organisations and charities over the coming year, and regularly reviews gift aid applications. There is a cap of a £500 maximum amount the council will grant from the alloted money, in efforts to spread the £10,000 as fairly and evenly as possible.

The skate project has been set up by a group of young people from Okehampton who share a love of skating and BMX, with an aim of building a modern, skate park in the town. They helped to organise the Okehampton Skate Jam, which was the opening event of the OCRA Sports and Fitness Festival.

The project has had support from Room 13, which has acted as a base for fundraising events. Okehampton mayor Maureen McDonald and town councillors have seen first hand the hard work going into the project, having visited one of their fundraising events at Room 13.

Cllr Christine Marsh supported the project: 'The young people involved in this project are working very hard, and I think if we can't offer them our support as a council, it'd be pretty poor. I'll be happy to see them receive this money.'

The allocation leaves the council with £6,900 left to allocate throughout the rest of the year to local charities and organisations.