5 Sep 2005

TARMAC SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL RESCUE

As part of the Blackpool Festival of Light, Tarmac has donated 120 tonnes of sand, and 60 tonnes of armour stone to support the Illuminations display, no strings attached!

The display, featuring a giant model of Thunderbird 3 on a mock rock armour Tracey Island, has been constructed near the pleasure beach and was illuminated on the 2 September at 9:30pm. The rocket sits on top of the armour stone, has water features, palm trees and tropical plants and stands a whopping 50ft high.

The Kirkham Prison Community Project Group has created the display and were working on the construction until the switch on. Festival director Philip Oakley, commented: "The Festival aims to involve the community in the Blackpool Illuminations to get more value out of the lights, but also to create more community spirit in the town. By involving local companies with community groups and the Illuminations Department, we're developing some great projects, which have a lot of value beyond simply creating new features for tourists."

Russ Mason, community projects co-ordinator for Kirkham Prison Community Projects, backs this up: "We were initially approached by Philip Oakley back in May of this year to be involved in first Festival of Light, one of eight groups approached. It's such a large event that we saw this as a tremendous opportunity to put something back in the community and to get our men used to working in society again, whilst raising the awareness of our community projects."

Rock armour is permeable and primarily used when building sea defences to give protection to side slopes. It is this permeability that allows it to dissipate the energy of storm waves and prevent erosion.

Andy Roberts, Tarmac commercial manager, commented: "The Illuminations are a big part of the local history and heritage of Blackpool and we [Tarmac] are happy to be able to make a small gesture back to the town. As a company we have stockpiles of Armour Stone available at present so had more than enough to be able to help out with the display."

Philip Oakley, also declared: "Tarmac has been extremely helpful with this project from the outset and its involvement has ensured a really spectacular installation. We've lost count of the number of deliveries made, but I think we're up to 120 tonnes of material."

Alan Tracey will be testing his engines nightly, ready for take off on 6 November. Thunderbird 3 can be found in Flagstaff Gardens, South Promenade near the Sony Playstation games zone.