Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Olympic climbing wall supplier helping to develop state-of-the-art adventure sports centre in Inverness

Post Thumbnail

The supplier of climbing walls to the Tokyo Olympics has been awarded a £500,000 contract to create a state-of-the-art facility in Inverness.

An adventure sports hub will open later this year after being granted planning permission in January.

The Ledge charity aims to create a centre in Telford Street which will have Scotland’s only Olympic-standard bouldering wall, as well as climbing and training facilities for people at every level.

The Ledge will have Scotland’s only Olympic standard bouldering wall

The centre will be run by climbers and open to anyone hoping to learn new life skills and improve their mental wellbeing.

As well as around 1,000 square metres of climbing space, the centre features a gym, cafe and shop.

The charity says it will create about 40 jobs and boost the local economy by £1 million.

The climbing walls will be built by Entre-Prises (EP), which has developed projects across the USA, Asia, and Europe.

Daniel Hodgson, from Entre-Prises UK, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Ledge on this exciting project, which will bring fantastic climbing facilities to Inverness and the Highlands.

Centre will deliver a ‘vertical living’ centre

“This contract represents a huge opportunity to showcase our capabilities as the world’s leading manufacturer of climbing walls.”

As well as providing Olympic-standard facilities, The Ledge aims to develop its ‘vertical living’ social impact programme.

This includes mentoring, supported access for schools for clubs and special needs groups, vocational skills, and community initiatives.

In partnership with NHS Highland, the University of the Highlands and Islands and youth workers, the charity aims to offer users skills gained through climbing as a springboard for better coping strategies.

Marc Peart, who will lead the social impact work, said: “Our role is to ensure that there are no barriers to access and that The Ledge is an amazing resource available to the whole community across the Highlands.

The climbing centre could boost the Inverness economy by £1 million

“We can do this by listening to, and working with, the community and those groups advocating for young people and adults.

“We have already started to develop these key relationships, but I am keen to hear from businesses with social responsibility programmes, and education and social care colleagues.

“I can’t wait for the day the wall opens and we see the climbing community, with an Olympic-standard bouldering facility, working to deliver sustained social impact.”

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help build of the centre.

Centre could attract 50,000 people

The cost of building was previously estimated at £3m and is hoped it will attract upwards of 50,000 visitors each year.

The Telford Street site was third time lucky for the charity which began exploring potential sites in 2015.

An initial plan for a site at Inverness Marina was shelved and an application on Lotland Street was rejected due to its proximity to a petrol distribution centre.