A MARATHON challenge will push skaters to their limit as fundraising for a new Dunfermline skatepark gets under way.

The group will take on approximately 5,000 "up and downs", completing a full 26.2 miles, on a ramp in a bid to fund the new facility partially.

Rory Fell, who runs Boards for Bairns, a city charity which aims to gift skateboards to children to help them both pursue their interest in skating and give them an outlet, has been helping to organise the event.

He told the Press: "It has all been in the pipeline for a while now, we think the skatepark will cost between £250,000 and £300,000.

"The majority will come from external funding but a lot of places want you to being doing community engagement, we need to show we are willing to go out and do it rather than just putting our hands out for money."

He says that this will be the first in a long line of fundraisers, with planning for the park, which is to be built behind Carnegie Hall, still at an early stage.

"It has been an on-again-off-again thing for a very long time," Rory explained.

"I have been skateboarding for 13 years and, in that time, people have always been talking about making a new facility, but it has only been properly pushed in the last few years."

The group behind the idea have been spending time hearing what other skaters want to see in a new park, with hopes to make it as accessible as possible for those who prefer to use bikes or scooters.

"It will be free at the point of use, so if you're a kid whose parents can't take you to football training etcetera, you have somewhere to go.

The 24-year-old added: "We already have a lot of nomadic kids who congregate at the park anyway.

"I always found when I was younger that the older users put me under their wing – they were a positive influence on me – it is a very inclusive environment."

And with new parks popping up across Fife – in towns like Lochgelly and Inverkeithing – Rory thinks it is even more important for Dunfermline to have a top-of-the-range facility.

"All the new parks are brilliant," he said.

"But we are Fife's only city, we are a new city, we should have one which is up to date and up to standard.

"People travel from all over to places like Ballingry or Cowdenbeath – we would become a destination for skaters."

The fundraiser will take place at Woodys Skatepark in Kirkcaldy on Saturday, August 20.

You can keep up to date with the movement on the group's Instagram, dunfyparkmovement and can donate to the cause here: https://gofund.me/302a2015