£2 million pandemic funding announced for Scotland's ice rinks
The funding for rinks is part of a £55m emergency sports funding package to tackle lost ticket revenue during the pandemic. A further £200,000 will be available for ice hockey.
Ice rinks have been particularly hard hit by the lockdown, with many still unable to open since closing in March, due to the high costs of re-laying the ice pad. Those that have opened have been hit by a loss of revenue from ice hockey matches, which are not taking place this year, as well as a reduced number of skaters allowed on the ice at any one time due to social distancing requirements.
Dundee Ice Arena, where many of Great Britain’s elite athletes train, is one of few rinks to have opened fully since the pandemic began, alongside Fife Ice Arena and Aberdeen’s ice rink. However, many others, including Murrayfield Ice Rink in Edinburgh, remain closed.
The owners of the historic rink warned in October that they could not open “for the foreseeable future” after covid restrictions meant it was not financially viable for them to do so. They warned that it would cost up to £50,000 to re-lay the ice pad and prepare the building for use after seven months lying dormant - and said that if further lockdowns were introduced and the facility had to close after re-opening, the business would not survive the financial hit.
MP Christine Jardine has since lent her support in a bid to secure funding, alongside MSP Ruth Davidson, while high-profile skaters including British ice dance champion Lewis Gibson and Dancing on Ice star Mark Hanretty have also voiced their concerns about the rink’s continued closure.
The Scottish Ice Rinks Association said: “Brilliant news [about the] government funding support for Scottish Ice Rinks announced today. We await the finer details but some good news for the sector at last.”
David Thomson, director of Scottish Ice Skating and non-executive director of British Ice Skating, said: “I think this funding will enable a number of rinks to re-open and give a lifeline to those which otherwise may never have reopened. There are many rinks which are really struggling.”
Annabel Mansell, who is leading a campaign to re-open Murrayfield ice rink, Keep Murrayfield Skating, said: “This is great news for the Scottish skating community. We hope that the funding means we can get back on the ice as soon as possible.
“Hopefully this funding will help rinks re-open which had up until now struggled to see how they could do so viably – not just in Edinburgh, but all over Scotland.”
Announcing the fund, sports minister Joe FitzPatrick said: “I am pleased to announce this substantial funding package, which will help to ensure those sports which have been worst affected by the loss of ticket revenue during the pandemic are able to bridge the gap in revenue until spectators are able to return safely to sports events in larger numbers.”
The package comes in addition to sportscotland’s £1.5 million COVID Recovery Support Fund. It will comprise grants and low-interest loans, including £30m for Scottish Football at all levels of the game and £20m for Scottish Rugby.