The County Durham Ice Foundation is a not-for-profit community organisation which was founded with one simple aim - to seek the re-establishment of an ice sports venue in the County if Durham.

Continuing on from the Keep Durham on Ice Campaign which was established immediately after the closure of the Riverside Rink in 1996, the CDIF picked up the gauntlet of the old group in 2002 after the coming together of a mix of skaters, hockey players and hockey fans with a shared vision to see ice return to County Durham.

Since our formation, we have worked strategically over the years to build a number of relationships with key organisations to ensure that we can make our ambitions become a reality.

Already, we have helped to instigate a £22,000 feasibility study on a site in Newton Aycliffe in 2004 in partnership with Sedgefield Borough Council, and 2005 has seen us focus our energies on Durham City and explore the possibilities and options available there to attract potential arena developers to the city.

As well as working behind the scenes to drive the arena-build project forward, we are also heavily committed to demonstrating the public demand for a new ice rink for Durham and thanks to a substantial grant from the County Durham Foundation in 2005, we have been able to invest in promoting the campaign for a ice through advertising and the local media. Demand for ice is high, and in a survey of 121 households carried out in 2005 on the outskirts of Durham City, 94% of those surveyed supported provision of new ice rink in the city.

To prove demand for a new rink, since 2003 we have operated a membership scheme - encouraging anyone to sign up who would like to see a rink return to Durham. This has generated in excess of 2,000 memberships for the Foundation since launching.

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The CDIF is run by a steering group of seven individuals from the world of ice skating and ice hockey with assistance from a range of advisers and volunteers.