Roll Together – Adaptive Event

On Saturday 31st May, Skateboard GB and Campus Skateboarding CIC brought together the adaptive skateboarding and Wheelchair Motorcross (WCMX) communities at their new city centre space ‘Shredenhams’ (the former Debenhams shopping centre in Bristol). The objectives of the day were to create a shared, welcoming space for skaters with different needs and WCMX riders to ‘roll together’ and to listen, test and explore how different equipment, adaptations and coaching techniques can help make skateboarding and other wheeled sports more inclusive. Skateboard GB and Campus worked with Tomas Woods, two times WCMX world champion, his coach, Ben Adshed (from Graystone skatepark, Salford), and UK-wide inclusive sports specialists Access Sport, to design the programme for the day. Thanks to support from Graystone and Adrenaline Alley skatepark (Corby), the partners were able to provide equipment to enable any children or adults with additional needs to access the skatepark and have a go at either skateboarding or WCMX.

It was a really special day, with a buzzing atmosphere from start to finish. More than 40 participants, their families and friends travelled from all over the country, with 25 children and adults registered to receive coaching, try new things, make connections and push themselves. One participant put it simply: “This is the most fun I’ve had in my life.”

The event, branded as Roll Together, brought together existing WCMX riders, wheelchair skaters and adaptive skateboarders and their parents, alongside new participants who had, up until the event, not had the opportunity to experience skateboarding or WCMX.  People travelled from Nottingham, Halifax, Winchester, Bournemouth and beyond. The event meant a lot to a lot of people. Another participant said: “I had a great time. It was literally my only opportunity to be able to try wheelchair MX… I’m now giving a lift home to someone I met and we’re going to start meeting at the skatepark and skating together more often.”

The event partners recognised this was currently a rare opportunity, and are hoping to build Roll Together into an annual event, learning from all the feedback received from participants, and also enabling coaches (of skateboarding and WCMX) to meet and share practice, so future events can grow, improve and become more frequent. James from Access Sport said: “It’s been a real eye opener… I’ve made real good connections with people about the benefits of skating, the community that’s come together here today and what more we can do together in the future.”

From clinics and jam sessions to art activities, the whole day ran smoothly thanks to a brilliant team effort. Skateboard GB and Campus would like to thank all the coaches and external contributors – Cath, Ben, Tomas, Hardy, Shaun, Alexis, Monica, Jayden and Geoff – whose energy and knowledge shaped the day in ways that really mattered.