Campaign brothers put hopes on ice; Support for teenagers on Facebook site.

Byline: Neil McKay

TEENAGERS Josh and Tom Finch may have grown up steeped in football history, but the rough and tumble of ice hockey is their first love.

Josh, 18, and Tom, 16, whose parents Alan and Michele created the successful The Old Fashioned Football Shirt company (Toffs), play junior hockey for the Newcastle Vipers.

And they have backed a bid to install a permanent ice rink in Durham by setting up a site on the social network Facebook, which has 2,500 followers.

On Saturday The Journal reported how members of the Durham Dragons social ice hockey team were staging an all-night skate-in on a temporary rink to raise awareness of the campaign to bring a permanent rink to Durham.

Businessman Jan Eskildsen wants to build a permanent rink in the city to replace the dilapidated indoor rink which closed 14 years ago on the city's Riverside.

Its closure spelled the demise of the Durham Wasps ice hockey team, which between 1982 and 1992 dominated the British League - winning the Heineken Championship four times, the league championship six times and the Norwich Cup three times while playing to passionate sell-out crowds of up to 4,000.

Michele said: "The boys are both mad keen ice hockey players and feel very strongly that there is a shortage of facilities in the region.

"They have to go to Whitley Bay to train.

"Yet other areas of the country, such as Manchester and Sheffield, have permanent rinks. The boys would love to see one open in the region somewhere, and why not Durham? The city certainly has an ice hockey tradition.

"The facebook site set up by Tom has 2,500 followers which demonstrates support for the campaign to build a new permanent rink in the North East, and the boys are right behind the efforts to have one built."

Mr Eskildsen said the success of a temporary rink he installed last November next door to the old one, which remains open until March 28, demonstrates the demand for a permanent skating facility in Durham. Plans revealed by the County Durham Ice Foundation for a permanent rink at Belmont, on the outskirts of the city, appear to have fallen through, but Mr Eskildsen said he was in talks with the county council about two possible sites for a permanent rink, one in the city centre and another at Meadowfield. He told The Journal: "So far the usage of the temporary one has shown there is definitely a demand for a permanent rink, and the temporary one remains open until March 28.

"The popularity of the TV programme Dancing on Ice has helped to attract skaters, while we have also staged curling and three-a-side ice hockey competitions."

He added: "The all night skate-in by the Dragons demonstrates the commitment of local people to restoring a permanent rink to Durham."

CAPTION(S):

WEBSITE SUPPORT Brothers Tom, left, and Josh Finch have taken their campaign to the web