BUDE longboarders have returned after organising and taking part in a mass-scale Skaiti event. A total of 250 skaters spent 24 hours at Dunsfold Park last month raising money to help with disaster relief in Haiti following the recent earthquake there.

Rollerskaters, skate boarders and inline skaters of all ages came together from all across the country to skate together for a full 24 hours around the Dunsfold Airfield circuit, and they were joined by skaters who had travelled especially for the event from France, Holland, Germany and the United States of America. The mass skate was dubbed 'Skaiti' and it has already raised over £16,000 to fund the work of the ShelterBox charity in Haiti and elsewhere in the world, and money is still being donated. Many skaters covered more than 100 miles on their skates and skateboards, and one longboarder, Matt Elver of Plymouth, achieved a total of 161 miles, beating the previous UK record. Dunsfold Park saw the fundraising potential of the mass skateathon after being approached by two skaters, Jo Coles and Jack Cousins, a mother and son team from Bude. Thirteen-year-old Jack covered 55 miles over the weekend, a new personal best. "We're so grateful to everyone who has helped raise so much for charity," said Jo, "especially to Dunsfold Park who have been so generous to the cause, and who immediately saw the potential of the event. The fundraising success has been amazing and the feedback from all of the skaters has been incredibly positive. The weather was very kind to us and everyone gave it their best shot. We think that collectively we all skated to Haiti and back again with some skaters skating through the night. We've raised enough money to send over 30 Shelterboxes for the disaster relief and even after 24 hours of skating everyone was still smiling!" Jo and Jack were joined on the track by Jack's granddad, making three generations of the same family skating for charity at Dunsfold Park. If you'd like to help the fundraising you can make a donation at http://www.justgiving.com/Skaiti24">www.justgiving.com/Skaiti24.