New £30m skating centre opens with £1 ice breaker

The cutting edge Lee Valley Ice Centre will open its doors to the public for the first time on Saturday 17 June, bringing a stunning, much-anticipated new sports venue to the capital.

Visitors are invited to test out an Olympic sized ice rink for just £1 on opening day at the new centre in Leyton, east London and enjoy activities for families, prizes, giveaways and entertainment. They can pre-register for tickets at www.better.org.uk/ice-centre All visitors must pre-book.

This opening is the culmination of a £30 million investment by the venue owner Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, with support from the London Borough of Waltham Forest, to create a world leading ice venue on the site of the old Lee Valley Ice Centre on Lea Bridge Road. It will be a welcome addition to sport and leisure facilities in the region, boosting the local economy by as much as £1.5 million each year.

The centre, which has been completed within budget, is one of only three venues in the UK to have two Olympic sized rinks and the only one in the South of England. It has a gym, dance studio, community spaces and café, and includes £1.5 million-worth of landscaping, planting and environmental improvements to the surrounding area. It will be a new community hub – a setting off point for exploring the nearby open spaces of the award winning Lee Valley Regional Park.

Lee Valley Ice Centre will offer public skating sessions, where everyone can come and try out skating, sessions from top class coaches, ice dancing, synchronised skating, ice hockey and ice discos, as well as community engagement activities. It is expected to attract half a million visitors a year, double that of the old centre.

Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, said: “We can’t wait to welcome visitors through the doors of the new Lee Valley Ice Centre. This world class centre is at the cutting edge of leisure. It replaces our much loved old venue which served the community for 37 years as a space for people of all ages to meet, socialise and exercise. I’m delighted that we have been able to go so far beyond what the old venue offered and that we’re opening this new centre less than two years since we started construction work. We are excited to see communities here enjoying everything the centre has to offer and for it to become home to the next generation of skaters.”

Booking is needed for all skaters at the opening day at Lee Valley Ice Centre, which is operated by Better, the charitable social enterprise. To pre-register for updates, visit www.better.org.uk/ice-centre Lee Valley Ice Centre will be open seven days a week from 06:00 to 23:00.

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For media enquiries and interviews, please contact the Lee Valley Ice Centre Community Relations Team on LVIC@communitycomms.co.uk or 0800 093 1716.

Notes to Editors

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a statutory body with a remit for sport, leisure, conservation and open spaces through the 26milelong Lee Valley Regional Park, which follows the River Lee from the Thames, through east and north London to Essex and Hertfordshire.

Founded by a unique Act of Parliament, we are central to the region’s sport, leisure and green space networks, and have more than 50 years’ experience of developing and running world class sports venues and creating award winning parklands.

Today the park’s 10,000 acres comprise a diverse mix of heritage sites, nature reserves and green spaces, including eight Sites of Special Scientific Interest, alongside sports venues, campsites, marinas and gardens attracting 8 million visits a year.

We own three London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues: Lee Valley VeloPark and Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire.

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For more information, or hi-res images contact press@leevalleypark.org.uk