Encirc Beverages donation and volunteers help bring Bristol BMX track back up to speed

Encirc Beverages’ commitment to the local Bristol community is firmly on the right track after donating over £25,000 to help totally refurbish a BMX park nearby to its factory at The Park.

The donation also allowed the local bike club ‘L’Dub’, which uses the facility, to buy a significant amount of new equipment.

Encirc, part of the Vidrala Group and the leading glass manufacturer and bottler filler in the UK, teamed up with Access Sport which is a national charity formed in 2004, to deliver the project.

Access Sport believes that no one should be excluded from the transformational benefits of community sport.

They train, equip and support community sports clubs, organisations, and volunteers to provide inclusive programmes, unleashing their potential to transform the lives of underserved young people in their local communities.

The BMX track which needed investment and a transformation to literally bring it back up to speed fell perfectly under the Access Sport remit and Encirc Beverages was delighted to be in a position to provide the funds needed.

Richard Lloyd, Managing Director, Encirc Beverages said: “It is fantastic that we can support and get involved with the local community close to our site. This project with the BMX track, I hope, will bring happiness and hours of fun for the community and something everyone can be proud of.”

Access Sport engaged with several local partners such as ‘L’Dub’ – the BMX club run by volunteers based at the track, Severn Net, who operate a bike hub there and Ambition Lawrence Weston, all of whom played a role in bringing this vision to life.

Encirc, through the funding available for their Community Projects, was able to pay for the track to be refurbished. They also funded the purchase of 20 new full-face helmets, five new BMX bikes and one accessible bike.

Not only did Encirc provide funding but over 20 employees put in more than 200 hours of volunteer work to help transform the track which is in Lawrence Weston, a mere ‘bunnyop’, as the bikers would say, from The Park.

The staff were delighted to be able to give something back to the local community while also representing Encirc in such a positive project.

Access Sport CEO Helen Rowbotham explained: “I would like to extend a huge thanks to all at Encirc for the donation of £25,188 for the track renovation and the outreach work at Lawrence Weston. All of us at Access Sport, the members of the local club and the community are so grateful for your support in terms of both the funding and the provision of so many willing volunteers.”

Encirc Beverages’ Community Committee Chair Paul Sime added: “The Lawrence Weston BMX Track is our first community project and the transformation over the two days was amazing. I hope the look and feel of the track will now encourage more local families to use the facility.”

Encirc Beverages intends to continue to support the BMX track in the coming weeks and months with further volunteering and improvements planned as a safe, exciting cycling resource is reinvigorated in the Lawrence Weston area.