THE owners of a Bracknell ice rink have said they are “extremely saddened” their relationship with a community interest company didn’t progress as anticipated.
In last week’s edition of Wokingham Today, we reported Boxing for Veterans (BFV), a boxing club set up to raise funds for veteran charities, had been forced to stop their fundraising efforts after leaving Ozone in Bracknell.
The owners of BFV accused Ozone of “pulling the plug” on the operation which resulted in all equipment being put into storage and the cancellation of an upcoming event.
However, a spokesperson from Ozone has said BFV left voluntarily, after the relationship became “unsustainable”.
The spokesperson said: “BFV presented a proposal to Ozone to occupy space at the ice rink in Bracknell, as the ‘home’ of Boxing for Veterans and to operate a gym and fitness facility.
“To support BFV, Ozone committed to paying all utility bills and associated service charges and agreed to accept a non financial, non refundable deposit in exchange for a revenue share of the gym sales.
“When it became clear BFV were unable to deliver their original proposal, including just 1.6% of their financial forecast, Ozone rink offered an alternative arrangement allowing BFV to retain their ‘home’ at Ozone.”
The spokesperson said this offer was declined and BFV were asked to present options that would be acceptable to them.
At this point, Ozone highlighted “serious safeguarding issues” with BFV, regarding the training of children.
According to Ozone, BFV accepted the issues raised and agreed to stop all training and classes for minors immediately.
The spokesperson added: “BFV presented five options to Ozone, one of which was to leave the facility at the end of September. In the interest of customer safety, Ozone had no option other than to accept BFV’s offer to leave.
“We regularly welcome many groups of young people at Ozone, including SEND’s, disabled athletes and children and adults with limited vision and hearing and make no apology for taking any actions necessary to ensure customers of Ozone are safe.
“We are grateful that schools and charities return to us, demonstrating they are comfortable with our commitment to safeguarding.”
The spokesperson said Ozone has responded formally to a claim from BFV, who believe they are owed money.
They added: “To date Ozone has not taken action to recover money from BFV for damage and repairs to the occupied space.
“We acknowledge that BFV are a community interest company, and not a registered charity, or registered with an official body, however we completely respected their intention to support the veteran community and endeavoured to support them to remain at Ozone, until the relationship became unsustainable.”
