The Adrenaline Alley skatepark in Corby has taken on the new member of staff in a quest to get more Corby youngsters off the streets and through its doors.

Since the skatepark was created five years ago – after Corby mother Mandy Young wanted to provide somewhere for her skateboarder son and his friends to practise safely after he was viciously attacked – the charitable sports venue has gone from strength to strength to become one of the UK's biggest skateparks.

Two years ago it relocated from its original outdoor venue at Rockingham Motor Speedway to the current indoor site on the Weldon North Industrial estate. Now plans are moving forward to build a multi-million pound top class venue back at the race track in the next few years.

It has the UK's only resi vert ramp and attracts 1,000 regular users through its doors as well as top professional skaters and riders and many urban sports enthusiasts from across the country.

Kim Collins is the new events and participation manager charged with making sure Corby's young people know all about what Adrenaline Alley has to offer.

The former teacher, whose role has been funded for three years by Sport England, said: "My role will be to become the link between the alley and the community.

"This will involve going out into schools and talking at assemblies, visiting community groups and trying to engage with the harder to reach members of society.

"We are very much a community here and we want to spread the ethos of the Alley.

"It is about providing a safe environment for the young people and also putting barriers in the way of anti-social behaviour and getting them off the streets."

The venue now has 12 young people on its staff, many of whom have been using the park since the early days and have helped build it into the place it is today.

To kick off the drive to get more youngsters accessing Adrenaline Alley, a free summer season of activities will be running from July 28 to August 29.

There will be film nights, photography workshops and professional tuition in skateboarding, BMXing and inline skating. For details visit www.adrenalinealley.co.uk.