Skatepark consultation & user engagement, youth learning programmes, event delivery, and publishing
Radical placemaking
Through our industry-leading track record in skatepark consultation, user engagement & design support services, we have played a key role in making these skateparks & spaces happen in Nottinghamshire:
Tram Line Spot
2022
The landmark, skate-friendly public space in Nottingham city centre is the result of Skate Nottingham’s 3+ year participatory design project, which engaged skateboarders, NTU students, and Nottingham College students through a series of design consultation workshops focused on community-led design outcomes. From as early as 2019, we hosted landscape designers, architects & activists such as Rich Holland, Bedir Bekar, Tom Deacon, and Stu Maclure & Henry Edwards-Wood of Long Live Southbank, to prompt locals to contribute ideas for what a hypothetical integrated skate-friendly public space might look like.
As the wider redevelopment of the Broadmarsh/Sussex Street area of Nottingham progressed throughout 2022, Skate Nottingham project managed the designated ‘skate space’ plans with Nottingham City Council & their main contractors, and project managed the selected expert skatepark builders, Betongpark Ltd. In the same year, we facilitated two final design consultations, one for the public, and one with a diverse expert user group of skaters, to refine & shortlist Betongpark’s proposed designs.
In the summer of 2022, Skate Nottingham designed & launched a successful Crowdfunder campaign that raised £16,730 from 231 supporters. Further work to make Tram Line Spot happen included Skate Nottingham staff working on-site alongside Betongpark professionals for the installation & fitout of the custom steel obstacles. Following completion, a full programme of activation events was delivered by us, including free skate coaching, women & girls’ sessions, a collaborative jam event with Skate Suffolk, and an official opening in partnership with Supereight & DC Shoes. We created all marketing materials, captured photo & video assets, and organised features in national media. An exhibition was designed & installed within the space, and engaging a local filmmaker resulted in a documentary film about the project that will be pitched to feature in international film festivals in 2023.
Keyworth skatepark extension
2022
Skate Nottingham supported and advocated on behalf of a local skatepark user to successfully fundraise & engage Keyworth Parish Council for new work on the long-standing Keyworth skatepark. We gave recommendations on the skatepark manufacturer and proposed designs, then met with Betongpark Ltd on site before their work commenced on the repair, extension & modernisation of the existing park. Upon completion, Skate Nottingham co-delivered the official opening event with Betongpark & Keyworth Parish Council, taking care of marketing & documentation of the event, as well as providing skate coaching sessions for beginners.
Beeston Fields DIY
2021
Working with Broxtowe Borough Council, Beeston Street Art, and Beeston Civic Society, and using a UKRI grant with Ignite Futures, we funded & facilitated a 2-day volunteer-led build of a legal DIY mini-skatepark. We engaged expert skatepark builders Betongpark Ltd for the project, and hosted 11 local skaters as volunteers, who learned construction skills from experienced professionals.
Shortly following its completion, we activated this space with additional temporary obstacles for an afternoon event during our city-wide ‘Skateboarding in the City’ 2021 festival. Skate Nottingham created photo & video assets during the project, which would later feature in magazine articles.
Rushcliffe Country Park skatepark
2021
For Ruddington’s brand new skatepark, we convened a diverse expert user group, including young & older users, both male & female, and used their input to create a design principles document for Rushcliffe Borough Council’s invitation to tender pack. During the procurement process, we recommended the preferred skatepark company from those tendered.
During the skatepark build by Canvas Skateparks, we facilitated 2 work experience placements for young local skateboarders, who gained a few days of on-site experience. We then arranged for one of these young people to do a 1 week design studio work placement with Canvas at their office in Bristol - this experience led the skater to make a successful UCAS application to study Landscape Architecture at Leeds Beckett University.
Following the completion of the park, we delivered an opening event with Canvas Skateparks, with free skate coaching lessons and media support. We had also engaged a local female skater & photographer to document and share images during the skatepark build, as well as then arranging further video promotion & celebration of Ruddington as an exemplar, inclusive & accessible skatepark with SkateboardGB.
Lady Bay skatepark
2018-19
Shortlisted in ‘value’ & ‘innovation’ categories, 2019 East Midlands Celebrating Construction awards
For the redesigned Lady Bay skatepark, its fourth iteration since 1999, Skate Nottingham acted as the link between local council and the community of skatepark users. We produced the design principles document for the skatepark tender pack, which further assisted Rushcliffe Borough Council in successfully applying for significant Sport England Community Assets Funding. Working with the dedicated local skateboarders who had been involved in Lady Bay skatepark for nearly 20 years, we facilitated a public design & user engagement event, and later arranged an expert user group that helped refine the proposed skatepark design and select the preferred contractor, Maverick Skateparks.
Once the park was complete, we collaborated with Maverick on delivery of an official opening event, with beginners’ skate coaching, as well as media engagement such as interviews with East Midlands Today & BBC Radio Nottingham. Skate Nottingham then submitted the project to the East Midlands Celebrating Construction awards and Lady Bay was shortlisted in the ‘value’ & ‘innovation’ categories.
King Edward Park skatepark
2016
Gold ‘value’ award, 2017 East Midlands Celebrating Construction awards
One of our earliest projects as Skate Nottingham was ensuring the proposed skatepark in Sneinton would have the involvement of skateboarders, and would therefore be done well. On behalf of Nottingham City Council, we engaged the Nottingham skate community to gather their needs and design preferences, we connected with the local residents’ association, and further down the line worked on the final skatepark design with a small group of expert users. We also forged a link and managed the relationship between Nottingham City Council and Canvas Skateparks, a specialist skatepark manufacturer and one of the big players in UK skatepark construction.
Upon completion in the winter of 2016, Skate Nottingham immediately began activating the skatepark, delivering free sessions for beginner skateboarders, women & girls, and new skate coaches throughout 2017. Promotional assets were produced for events, including advertising of the official opening jam, as well as photography & video assets of all activity.
To further celebrate “King Eddie’s” skatepark, we gave talks about the project to local government and charitable organisations, touching on key aspects such as our role in overcoming and adapting to significant reductions to the budget. We collaborated with the city’s lead contractor on a successful submission of King Edward Park skatepark to the East Midlands Celebrating Construction awards, winning gold in the ‘value’ category.
Radical learning
For more than 5 years, we’ve been delivering sessions, workshops & events with both direct and indirect educational benefits, using skateboarding as a tool to unlock wider learning opportunities.
Edu-Skate partnership with Concrete Jungle Foundation
2022-23
In 2022, we were selected as one of only 6 worldwide partners to form a network of organisations trialing ‘Edu-Skate’ as part of their existing coached skateboard delivery. Edu-Skate is a is a youth development and education program, developed in Jamaica by Concrete Jungle Foundation, which focuses on teaching 11 life skills through the lens of skateboarding. Our sessions in Nottingham have been well received by young people and their families, serving a diverse cohort with 55% of participants identifying themselves to be of an ethnic minority background, and 44% as womxn and girls. We have been invited to continue our delivery for a second year, with our sessions currently funded with kind support from Nottingham City Council and The Renewal Trust through an Area-Based Grant.
Creative Club
2022-23
‘Creative Club’ launched in 2022 as a free 10-week programme of extra-curricular learning aimed at unlocking the creative potential of young people, using creative skills that intersect with skateboard culture. Following weekly skate coaching sessions, guest creative practitioners led 1-hour creative workshops with the young participants, who were aged between 7-14 years old. Skills included illustration, photography, filming, graffiti, tattoo art, deck design, letter-writing, and ramp model-making. This programme was made possible by a grant from The Mighty Creatives.
Free beginners’ skateboard coaching
2017-23
We have engaged over 3000 unique participants since we started delivering free skateboarding sessions in 2017, across several locations with support from Nottingham City Council, The Renewal Trust and Nottinghamshire County Council. These included beginners’ sessions, women & girls sessions, and work supporting our coaches’ development through training such as DBS, NSPCC Child Safeguarding in Sport, and Skateboard GB’s Get Rolling (the first accredited skate coaching qualification).
Inspired by Skate Spots
2021
With support from Ignite Futures, ‘Inspired by Skate Spots’ was a large-scale participatory design project, which engaged young people and adults with design, landscape architecture, and civil engineering - mostly done remotely during COVID-19 lockdowns. Participants were asked to research & share photographs of their favourite skate spots from around the world that inspire them for what they would like to see in Nottingham. Experts in design & architecture, who are also skateboarders, created a series of videos about how skate spots have influenced their skateboarding and the work they do. An in-person workshop then gave participants the opportunity to discuss their ideas towards the then-upcoming community-led skateable space, ‘Tram Line Spot’. A short film created for the ‘Inspired by Skate Spots’ project debuted at the Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity.
Skate & Create workshops
2020
With an Ending Youth Violence grant from Nottingham City Council, we ran ‘Skate and Create’, a programme of workshops for young people & adults to learn skills in ramp building and concrete curb-making from industry experts Betongpark & Opus Skateparks.
Hosted at Backlit Gallery in Sneinton, we then curated a huge exhibition from these workshops and the resulting obstacles, alongside ideas & outcomes of a skateable space design consultation, and a series of skate films.
Skate film-making workshop
2019
As part of the ‘City Circuit’ skate video contest organised by local skateshop Forty Two, we hosted a workshop with noted skate filmers Jackson Davis & Dan O’Neill, where participants were given the chance to use the legendary VX1000 video camera to film some lines, then shown how to edit the footage with professional standard software. The aim of the project was to broaden participants’ horizons, introducing them to a potential new hobby and widening their skillset. This was made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Skate photography workshops
2018-19
In two consecutive years, we ran skateboard photography workshops in collaboration with Make It Easy Lab - designed to give guidance and development to participants wishing to learn the niche skills of capturing skateboarding, and how to shoot & work with film. Participants learned from industry experts such as Andy Horsley & Matt Clarke, and in the second year, participants’ final work featured in an exhibition alongside more established photographers. These free programmes were supported by grants from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Radical events
We love to bring all aspects of skateboarding together for large scale events that engage the public, the local skate scene, and regularly motivate people from around the world to visit Nottingham.
Nottingham Connected
2023
A winter weekend culminating in the official opening event of Tram Line Spot, also included an evening of films, talks & a skatepark design consultation. Hosted at The Carousel in Hockley, we shared the Concrete Jungle Foundation film “Freedom to Flourish”, and heard from guest speaker Tom Critchley on his experiences around the world with CJF. This was followed by a screening of “DC Shoes: Skate Urbanism” in collaboration with Bordeaux’s Leo Valls. Chris Lawton gave a talk about the impact of Skate Nottingham’s work, and attendees were able to discuss and feed back on the skatepark designs for Broxtowe Country Park. The Tram Line Spot opening saw over 200 visitors to the spot as skaters took part in best trick jams.
Skateboarding in the City festival
2021
Our second multi-venue, 10-day festival of skateboard culture included skate jams, a filmmaking contest led by Forty Two skateshop, a video screening night, a group exhibition on the history of Sneinton Market, a 2-day screenprinting workshop with local studio Dizzy Ink, and skate contests at the local indoor skatepark. Two panel discussions hosted at Metronome invited academics & skateboarders from around the country to discuss the topics of skateable spaces, design & inclusivity. This was all funded by a £10k National Lottery Awards For All grant.
The Castle lates
2021
As part of the Nottingham Castle’s ambitious re-opening programme, the Castle Lates, Skate Nottingham hosted a one-off day of skateboarding, coaching, and film screenings within the historic castle grounds. A unique opportunity which, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, saw over 300 people attend throughout the afternoon. Ramps and other obstacles were provided, and our MCs kept things running and dished out prizes.
Light Night installation
2020
As part of the city’s wider ‘Light Night’ event in 2020, Skate Nottingham created the ‘Skate of Nature’ installation in partnership with Instar - showcasing the community-built obstacles from the ‘Skate and Create’ workshops, freshly paint to glow in the dark. A huge marquee was open to the public to skate in front of the crowds in the evening, and free skate coaching was given in the daytime.
Skateboarding in the City festival
2019
Our first city-wide festival of skate culture brought everything from skate contests, sanctioned street jams, to an exhibition, a filmmaking competition, and a film screening night at Broadway cinema. The ‘Nottingham Open’ 2-day skate competition saw skaters travelling from around the UK to compete for big prize money, and guest speakers throughout the week included Prof. Iain Borden, and the Kaarikoirat crew from Tampere, Finland, who gave talks on their work transforming their city through skateboarding.
Radical publishing
Our work can often involve printed zines and publications, a creative outcome that brings together the local photographers, artists, and participants of our projects. These are designed & published by Skate Nottingham.
Sneinton Market 10 years strong zine
2022
Following our outdoor exhibition celebrating 10 years of skateboarding at Sneinton Market, Nottingham’s central plaza spot, we put together a limited edition zine to capture some of this history & imagery in print. Images came from the many photographers who have documented this spot over the years, along with illustrations and hand-written quotes from some of the spot’s most frequent skaters. The zine was launched with a skate jam at the spot, bringing together the skate community to celebrate the spot’s 10th year of existence.
Skateboarding in the City zine
2020
Following our first festival of skateboard culture, we produced a zine that captured all of the action throughout the week of activities, and told the story of how we pulled off such a large scale event. Friends and partners of the festival then received copies of this through the post.