Extra Ice Skating Sessions Added At The BIC

By Andrew Hendry

The Bournemouth International Centre has added extra dates to its public ice-skating sessions after drawing in thousands of people.

Management have added 18 extra dates to the public sessions, which began on 5th December.

Chris Jenkins, a 28-year-old Business Development Manager at the BIC, said ‘demand for ice skating is always there’, with the Christmas holidays being ‘the most successful period to date’.

The BIC’s skating sessions usually attract 50,000 people in the summer and have managed to draw in crowds of around 70,000 this Christmas – equivalent to the population of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Hugo Taylor, a 17-year-old Bournemouth resident, said ‘I don’t usually enjoy ice skating, but it has been so popular this year, I’ve been twice’.

The centre has worked closely with Simon Maddox, an ice expert from the ITV reality show Dancing on Ice, to provide a high quality temporary rink.

Anne Monk, a 39 year-old-mother of two, said ‘The rink is great, I was able to relax with a coffee while watch my boys skate’.

As well as the public skating in the Purbeck Hall, the BIC offers performances on ice, as well as a vast range of ballets, exhibitions and shows, and was the venue of the Labour Party Conference last September.

David Lunn, an international ice-skating coach recently revealed that the BIC could potentially make up to £2 million a year, if it were to accommodate a permanent indoor ice rink.

Barry Wilson, the BIC's senior operations manager said ‘We would like to build on our success in future years’.