Aberdeen’s biggest extreme sports centre will host a charity abseil from a city landmark to celebrate a decade of improving the lives of youngsters.
Transition Extreme will mark its 10th anniversary on September 19 by inviting high-flying daredevils to descend from the top of the 131ft Northern Lights Tower at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Participants will be raising money for the centre’s community programmes, which have provided support for thousands of disadvantaged young people across the north-east.
Neil Stevenson, founder of Transition Extreme, said the inspiration for the project struck when he was living in America.
“The original idea came when I was living in Houston,” he said.
“My two boys got into extreme sports over in the US, and when we came back to Aberdeen in 2003 we realised there really weren’t any suitable facilities around the north-east for young people.”
His family’s return coincided with an Aberdeen City Council consultation on provision for young people. Mr Stevenson suggested his idea and Transition Extreme was born.
“It all grew arms and legs from there,” he said.
“Rather than open something more modest for one or two of the more disadvantaged areas of Aberdeen, we decided the city needed something much more iconic.
“Transition Extreme gives young people, who perhaps aren’t attracted to traditional sports like rugby or football, the opportunity to find a real passion for alternative sports such as climbing, skateboarding and BMX.
“But more than that, the centre has implemented a fantastic range of programmes for young people that both engage them in sport, and through that passion, also give them solid life skills, which ultimately can lead to solving employability issues.”
He said he was proud of what the centre had achieved and hopeful that supporters would rally round to safeguard its future.
“When it was founded Transition received some great help from Aberdeen City Council to get the building built, but we have never had to call on the council for revenue subsidy,” he said.
“We really do depend of sponsorship from local companies and support from fund-raisers like this to help us implement some of these vital programmes for kids, so it would be brilliant for as many people to sign up as possible.”
Go to www.transition-extreme.com to get involved.