Thursdayevening May 19, Town-hall Apeldoorn, Political market. |
| We went to the townhall to present our plans to a select group of people forom our town council during a public meeting in which, among others things, the cutbacks in youth policy were discussed. Henk Schutte from Liveable Apeldoorn was so kind to put us on the list of speakers. David read the speech in English, because he is the face of Real-X. He was very nervous, stumbled over a few words here and there, but said everything that needed to be said We even got a positive reaction from a council member: '...these initiatives should be rewarded and Apeldoorn should help facilitate this. It is not unusual for cities or counties to do so,' etc... And thanthe brave man was cut off by the chairman, who ruled that this was not the time or the place to discuss this because this item is not on the agenda. The skaters who came to cheer us, thanks guys, gave another round of applause, even though the chairman had said previously that applause was out of order in this meeting. :) This is the speech (it is a little bit Dutch here and there, because Jolien wrote it): |
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| My name is David Hornbeck and I stand here before you, because we have a new and great plan for the kids in Apeldoorn; Real-X, an indoor fun and skatepark. You’ll probably think: “A new plan, that is the last thing we need now.” We are aware of the fact that the money for the kids is pretty much divided for the coming years, but we also know that our great plan is not achievable without the coorporation of the Apeldoorn commuhas been built. Especially Wisselwerk is organizing things for the skaters in the street. That is great and of course we want that to continue. Still we think that our plan has a serious extra value next to the necessary projects that are already going on. |
| First: De outside skatespots can only be used 4 out of 12 months in a year. It is impossible and dangerous to skate on a wet surface. |
| Second: It doesn’t realy get the kids òf the street now does it? Our indoor skatepark is for a wide variety of kids. We want to provide them with a safe and dry place to be able to do what they like tot do so much under proper guidance. And we know what they want to do! I skate with them every day and we communicate also through our website. Currently we have more than 500 autographs from the kids and their parents, who stand 200% behind our plan. Also they wrote in their e-mails what they would like to do and see in the park. |
| We think that the Real-X Foundation will fill the gap for the group of kids that are too old for the kids playground and too young for the pub. For them there is not enough to do in Apeldoorn on rainy days. With all the serious consequences. |
| With Real-X, they’ll have something fun and sportive to do. That is also why we think that an indoor skate-funpark works preventively. You are the experts, you know that every euro well spent now on these kids, will save you ten euros later on the curative side. And just because you are the experts on the youth in Apeldoorn and there is a lot of you here, we would like you to think with us and help us get this great plan to work. In whatever way possible. |
| We need your enthousiasm, understanding, action and creativity to make this work. To make Real-X indoor skate and funpark, the dream of every kid in Apeldoorn and therefore the dream of their parents, happen. |
| Apeldoorn, think with us and you will not regret it, because the kids that give us problems now, probably never had a park like Real-X to get rid of their energy. Think with us, not only for us, but for all these bored kids outthere: as you say: 'every kid counts.' |
| Alle jeugd telt. |
| I can speak Dutch, and answer your questions. You can also look at our website. www.real-x.org. |
