Projekts Mcr Skateboard Park
97 LONDON RD, MANCHESTER, M1 2PG, 0161 272 8538
“We’ve managed to turn a space that wasn’t used for anything positive into one of the best spaces in the city,”
John Haines, CEO Projekts Mcr Ltd.
Projekts MCR is a skateboarding project based under the Mancunian way and a well-known landmark to Mancunians. After skateboarding was banned in public areas of the city in 2001, Manchester City Council offered the small, but growing community a small disused patch of land under the Mancunian way that was more commonly known as a dumping ground for stolen cars.
Very soon though a movement was born – Projekts Mcr.
The drab concrete pillars supporting the Mancunian Way were decorated with eye-catching artwork, ramps were added and the space was transformed into something remarkable.
Projekts MCR expanded their operation gradually, opening a small cafe on site to serve refreshments to tired skateboarders and generate income for the project. To make the sport more accessible to a broader audience specialist sessions were added for women and girls with sessions for adults added later.
A hallmark of the organisation is effective planning and management. A strong, proactive board and an enthusiastic CEO in the form of John Haines have transformed the organisation from reliance on small grants to a project that generates income from a wide variety of sources, including a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2019 to expand the park further.
As the organisation has grown and looked to attract more external funding to develop the site further, the relationship between Projekts MCR and the council needed to adopt a more formal footing. Many funders will not receive applications from groups that do not have a long lease of their premises in place. Making use of Manchester City Council’s Community Asset Transfer policy, Projekts MCR successfully applied for a long-term lease on the site, securing their presence and ensuring that their future is as bright as their artwork!
