The Proposal
Outside will be home to a community hub and cafe, with a pottery studio, surfboard building workshop space, kids play areas, small scale growing space and concrete skate bowl on the south coast of Devon.
We will be opening our doors Spring 2022.
Social Objective
This project has been designed and built with our community at the centre, Outside will provide a space for sport, wellbeing and social interaction, many facilities of which are not available locally and we believe are crucial to physical and mental wellbeing.
Use of the skate bowl will be through an annual flat membership fee of £60 per year to cover the costs of bowl maintenance, insurance and staffing, but don’t worry if you cant afford it, this space is for everyone so we will be offering volunteering opportunities in exchange for skate bowl membership.
Why a skate bowl?
It is a social sport that has multi-generational appeal and a direct connection to the culture of the surroundings.
Although always synonymous with counter culture, today, skateboarding has grown into a mainstream pursuit. In fact, skateboarding and surfing go hand in hand; an activity to hone the craft of surfing when the conditions were not right.
Often skating facilities end up in dark forgotten corners of parks and historically have a bad reputation. The Outside skate bowl will be a safe, well monitored alternative that our young people are proud of.
As with all sports, standards of excellence and available facilities are intrinsically linked, in rural areas facilities are often outdated, inaccessible and therefore unused, having access to high quality facilities can help local kids and adults access the kind of opportunities normally only available in urban areas.
Fundraising
The set up of the Outside Cafe building, workshop spaces and farm are self funded however the bowl is special and central to our project, this fundraiser is to raise the money to build it, Betong Park have designed us a destination bowl that will cater to all levels and it will be built by the best in the country! Ryan and his team at Opus Skateparks.. there will be nothing like it within a 20 mile radius.
Here is a link to the designs.
The bowl will take 6 weeks and cost £60,000 to build, funding rewards range from reduced yearly membership to private session takeovers and even having your name on a personalised ceramic tile surrounding the bowl.
Support for the project.
The bowl has the backing of Skateboard England, they have outlined significant benefits that skateboarding can have in relation to mental health. As a contrast to football, the lack of team element means there is no social pressure and skateboarders can be encouraged to learn and grow at their own pace whilst being supported by an inclusive skating community.
“Through a programme of funding, they will design and construct a concrete skate bowl and a community building, along with a long term vision to develop a coaching programme to ensure everyone has the chance to get involved in wheeled sports. Following this they aim to hold sector specific coaching such as; girls only, adults only, younger age group clubs, etc.”
Neill Ellis, Head of Engagement, Skateboard GB
Some support from our local community..
“As a local teacher the students I have been talking to are so looking forward to being involved with a concept like this. The hubbub around being able to learn crafts of board shaping and also being able to skate a bowl (nearest one is in Paignton) shows that there is a vacuum and a need for a facility such as this. The fact that I have never seen such enthusiasm for anything else in the surroundings speaks volumes.”
Richard Thomson, Teacher, Kingsbridge Community College
“I would be very keen on the idea of a skatepark where we can skate in a safe environment where there are also places to play for younger brothers and sisters and a place for adults to talk and socialise as well.”
Asa Hughes, Age 17
“Skateboarding isn’t a crime but it’s sometimes treated like one in Kingsbridge which is quite unfair for young people who are genuinely talented and doing something cool. It would make such a difference if there was a place where the sport was celebrated and used as a positive thing that brings the community together rather than causing conflict”
Grace Papenfus, Age 19
“As a surfer and skateboarder who spends a lot of time at Bantham I think there is an extreme lack of areas for myself and all my mates to hang out. Skateboarding is a great alternative for surfing when there are no waves and currently there isn’t anywhere suitable for us to do so. A bowl would be extremely popular and would benefit all of our surfing abilities as well. It will also benefit the community as it means that people of all ages will be hanging around in the same area.”
Louie Harrow, Age 19
A huge thank you to Tim Middlewick for editing the video and to Owen Tozer for the drone footage.
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Thank you for your support and see you at Outside soon!