Cambridge Ice Arena turns 7 years old!
On the 26th August 2026, Cambridge Ice Arena will turn 7 years old.
Cambridge Ice Arena officially opened to the public on 26th August 2019, after more than 2 decades of planning and fundraising by Cambridge Leisure and Ice Centre (CLIC) and The University of Cambridge. David Gattiker, who captained the Cambridge University’s ice hockey team in the 1930’s, also donated £1 million in the early 1990’s towards the creation of the rink.
Initially, the arena was due to open in 2017 but was delayed due to the discovery of 194 unexploded grenades on site from World War Two.
Cambridge Ice Arena was built to be as environmentally sustainable as possible with features such as heat recovery and the timber roof construction- we have the longest glulam ceiling beams in the UK! In more recent years, we have installed solar panels as part of our larger Cambridgeshire Partnership initiative to ensure that local leisure centres remain sustainable for future generations.
Over the last 7 years, we have built a wonderful skating community and have had many great achievements. To celebrate this, here are 7 highlights:
- We have supported around 5000 skaters to develop and progress through our Learn to Skate programme over the past 7 years. We currently have over 600 members learning to skate each week and we have delivered over 300 weeks of lessons since the programme began.
- Our social Coffee Skate sessions have created a wonderful close community of adults learning to skate in a relaxed, fun environment. The social sessions have provided a space for skaters to come together as a community whilst learning new skills and keeping active.
- We have a range of high-level athletes who now receive funding from the GLL Sport Foundation to assist them in achieving their goals. Some of our GSF athletes have skated at national and international levels proudly representing the arena. Cambridge Ice Arena currently holds the largest amount of athletes registered with the GSF in Cambridgeshire.
- The development of our first women’s league hockey team, Cambridge Kodiaks has been an incredible journey, seeing them reach the WNIHL league 1 within two years of being founded.
- We have hosted over 770 skaters via the HAF (Holiday, Activities and Food) programme over the Christmas holidays since 2021, allowing many families to enjoy a fun day out funded by the local council.
- In the more recent years, the Cambridge Ice Skating Club has hosted National figure skating competitions seeing athletes from around the UK travelling to compete here.
- We have hosted many skating camps including Junior GB ice hockey trial camps and most recently, a camp hosted by Olympic champion, Robin Cousins.
We are so proud of the skating community that has developed at the rink and we look forward to many more years to come.