Who are we?

We are Best Foot forward Skate Academy! We are a Skateboarding School based in London who for the last 2 years have been dedicated to bringing Skateboarding to 1000s of people, old and young, across London. We focus on two things: High quality coaching and Community building in Skateboarding. 

For the past 2 years we have been teaching skateboarding in Parks and Skateparks in West London with a mix of our private lessons and community based events and programmes such as our Free Ladies and Non-Binary skate sessions and work with children's Charities. Skateboarding has been a part of our lives for a long time and we are making sure the next generation have the best chance possible to succeed in their goals.  

Pictured  - a recent skateboarding workshop with a London based Girl scouts group

Why are we crowdfunding?

We need a home for our students all year round, a facility which is safe, controlled and most importantly created with the need of students and learning in mind.

Skateboarding is difficult and so is running a business that relies heavily on dry weather conditions in rainy London . Which is why we have launched the Best Foot Forward Skate Hub C.I.C.

Each year tens of thousands of London Skateboarders and even more potential Skateboarders are forced to put their progress on hold for 7 months out of the year as the capital enters rainy season and at Best Foot Forward Skate Academy we are no different. From September to May our students' progress is stalled and forced to a standstill whilst we hope in vain for dry conditions.

London has an abundance of empty spaces and funding yet skateboarding is currently a much under represented on the Capital's map, since Lockdown London has lost 2 of its largest indoor skate spaces with rumors of a third being closed next year, leaving small pockets of indoor skate-able spaces to cater to a city wide population. 

All remaining indoor skate spaces that we have wouldn't fill up half a football pitch,in a city where we have a third of the year suffering from active rain (and nearly double that in overcast ones)  we believe access to a space dedicated to learning all year round is needed for what is now an Olympic Sport.

With the Best Foot Forward Skate Hub C.I.C we will create our own dedicated indoor space which would allow us to continue our work, reaching more people and reducing barriers of entry into the Sport and Culture of Skateboarding. It would allow us to create a purpose built skatepark with the focus of welcoming and advancing the skills of skateboarders of all ages and abilities.

We have identified many spaces across the city with SW London looking most likely, however given the lack of facilities this will be something we feel will benefit across the whole city, wherever we land we aim to be accessable and near public transport links.

Our crowdfunder would allow us to build all the ramps and obstacles as well as secure a long-term home for us to find our footing and provide the service we love to do.

Pictured - A London skatepark in September, a common sight 7 months of the year across the city.

How we’ll spend the money raised

All money raised will be directly used to build ramps, improve facilities and fund the rental and upkeep of the Skatepark. Rent in London is not cheap and when coupled with Business rates, bills and insurance, costs do spiral even for smaller innocuous spaces we are looking at currently. The potential jumpstart we could gain will give us time to build the facility and find our footing without looking over our shoulder as the rent dates approach.

Pictured - A working concept of our indoor Skate facility 

Community impact

At Best Foot Forward it has always been our mission statement to benefit communities and individuals through the introduction of skateboarding. Alongside our regular private lessons we have always have reached out to offer community based action and hope that having our own home will allow us to not only continue but far surpass our current efforts.

We have run dozens of Free sessions for Women and Non-Binary learners during the summer months where we would have between 30 and 70 attendees each session, these events were a huge success and offered a first step into skateboarding for some who were intimidated and a place to meet others and build a community for others.

We also actively work with DFY Children's charity with the shared goal to bring sports to lower income families via afterschool skate clubs at schools in Brent.

By creating the Best Foot Forward Skate Hub C.I.C we will be able to realise and expand on this mission, we will work with more schools, community groups and marginalized genders and ethnicities to ensure the doors are open to Skateboarding for everyone.

Skateboarding is a fantastic activity for not only physical and mental health but also helps reduce isolation and has the provable ability to pull young people from the cusp of crime, gangs and antisocial behaviour, ingraining a strong menality based on community.

Alongside these sessions we will be offering other independant skateschools and teachers the chance to continue their work all year round.Private lessons will be important for paying ongoing costs but we want to make sure our community work creates a lasting legacy.

Our indoor space will allow us to extend these community events and we would pledge over 100 hours of Free coaching time and lessons to local community groups and schools if we are able to secure enough funding for our project.

Pictured a recent Free Ladies and Non-Binary skate session

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a Donation! We know times are tough but any and all money raised will go a long distance to securing something special for everyone in London. We wont leave people empty handed too, with raffles and other prizes up for grabs when you donate

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. If you are a Business who would like to offer rewards for people who donate please get in contact, we are also up for sponsorship of ramps and coaching uniforms 

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – such as events, sponsoered runs, cake sales ect– use the 'Start Fundraising ' button at the bottom of our page to get started. You will receive your own pot of funds that will feed into the main crowdfunder.

Our fundraising champions will be rewarded with matched credit in free lessons / skatepark time for all money raised by them!