What do they cost to sponsor?
The standard charge for the ones we've done so far, including one plaque, is £160 but some have cost more for extra plaques and the like. We are planning to re-treat the benches next year too in order to keep them looking good.
Some of the ones on the Hollins may have some extra costs too because they are in much worse condition. We will look at this next spring when the weather becomes suitable again. We have had some interest from the shops along there but nobody has actually finalised and we've not been pushing as we were busy enough with the ones we had. It was disappointing that we didn't get a sponsor for the last one on Market Street though. We approached two organisations about it but one couldn't decide and the other hasn't responded yet. We are planning to put a "Sponsor Me!" sign on it.
The financial details from the whole campaign will be published in the next Friends of the Park minutes (from our meeting on Monday) and I can tell you that we've been able to allocate £1,200 of extra funding to the Skatepark Project from the income. This will draw down the same amount from the council's £ for £ match-funding, so it has got us £2,400 closer to that £100,000 target.
It turned out to be a lot of work for 3 or 4 volunteers but I think it's been great for the sponsors, the Town Centre and Friends of the Park.