2023-12-31-accounts

The Skateboarding Foundation Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts

1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 Charity Number 1166397

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Reference and administration details

Trustees

Richard Porteous (resigned 16 Sep 2023) Charles Haigh (resigned 15 Nov 2023) Stefan Schrey (resigned 15 Nov 2023) Dominic Tretheway (resigned 15 Nov 2023) Paul Rompani, Chairman & Secretary (from 10 Apr 2016) David Hughes (from 15 Nov 2023) Ryan Davies (from 15 Nov 2023) Simon Leach (from 15 Nov 2023) Rosalyn Johnston-Flint (from 29 Jan 2024) Registered name The Skateboarding Foundation Charity's principal address: 215 New North Road, London, N1 7BF Charity registration number 1166397

Trustees' Report

The trustees of The Skateboarding Foundation are pleased to present their annual report together with accounts for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.

Hi, it was a very inspiring week. We are hearing great things about the coaches, please pass them our thanks for the support and inspiration!

Mother of 12-year-old

Structure, governance and management

The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organization (CIO) with a constitution as its governing document.

Overall responsibility for the charity rests with the trustees who are charged with setting and monitoring the strategic direction of the charity and for establishing policy. No members of staff are employed to manage the charity. The trustees, who meet annually, delegate the day-to-day operation of the charity to the Chair who reports to the trustees on a regular basis. The trustees take responsibility for monitoring the charity’s activities and constant regard is had to the skills mix of the trustees to ensure that the board of trustees has all the necessary skills required to contribute fully to the charity’s development.

The charity has five trustees (and can have between three and 12 trustees). Charity trustees may be appointed for an unlimited time and will appoint new charity trustees. The trustees may from time to time appoint additional trustees either to fill casual vacancies or by way of co-option to the board.

The charity trustees make available to each new charity trustee, on or before his or her first appointment, a copy of the current version of the constitution, a copy of the Strategic Plan and a copy of the charity’s latest Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts.

No trustee received any remuneration for services as a trustee during the period. No trustee had any beneficial interest in any contract with the charity during the period.

The names of the trustees who served during the period (and in office at the date on which this report was approved) are set out as part of the reference and administrative details of this annual report and accounts.

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Mother of 8-year-old

B has LOVED the past 5 days! Monday was the first day he stepped on a skateboard and today he was showing us his tricks and drop ins! Pass our thanks to H and A, who B adores!

Objectives and activities

The objects of the charity as set out in its governing document are:

• To help young people, especially but not exclusively through skateboarding, to develop their skills and abilities to enable them to fulfil their potential and participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

• To promote the amateur sport of skateboarding for the benefit of the public, in particular but not exclusively young people

The charity’s vision is a world where all young people are provided the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

The charity’s mission is to make a difference to the lives of young people through skateboarding.

The trustees referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and relevant supplementary guidance when reviewing the charity’s aims and activities for the year and the organisational plans for future periods.

The primary activity of the charity involves delivering a programme to teach children and young people (especially those who are disaffected and at risk of being socially excluded) to learn to skateboard, in a structured and supportive environment, as a platform to develop their skills and abilities to enable them to fulfil their potential and participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

We aim to do this by:

• Providing accessible and free (or affordable) opportunities to attend skateboarding camps providing tuition and equipment to teach beginner children and young people to skate and in so doing develop their skills and abilities.

• Recruiting, training and supporting young skateboarders to coach children to skateboard.

Skateboarding, like many other sports and activities, has many great benefits. Children who begin skateboarding at an early age learn to love physical activity and will often enjoy the health benefits of that activity for years to come. Skateboarding is also an ideal cross trainer for other sports such as surfing and snowboarding. Other benefits of skateboarding include:

• Improves balance, coordination and flexibility

• Develops muscle strength, endurance and cardiovascular fitness

• Encourages visualisation and goal setting

• Increases concentration, focus and persistence

• Promotes individuality and creativity

• Promotes teamwork and group participation

• Builds confidence, social skills and self esteem

• Teaches sports competence and develops skills required for multiple sports

• Teaches sportsmanship and fair play

• Develops life skills such as independence, a positive attitude & respect for others

Learning to skateboard and skateboarding:

• Requires dedication - teaches young people the need for dedication, perseverance and commitment to achieve a goal

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• Develops identity - skateboarding enhances social skills and helps young people develop a positive sense of identity, belonging and connectedness with the community and society as a whole

• Builds confidence - skateboarding boosts confidence, self-esteem and the knowledge that young people can make things happen in their life

All children and young people are eligible for support from the charity. Children and young people are engaged through outreach programmes and activities developed in consultation with partners in the public and not for profit sectors.

We have a Risk Management Policy that considers risks related to working with children and vulnerable people and includes a Risk Register that identifies all risks with existing countermeasures, which include:

• All coaches will have undergone Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

• All equipment used will be built and installed to BS EN 14974

• Full third party (public liability) insurance of £5 million covering teaching, demonstrations and competition events

• At least one first aid trained person will be on site during the programme

• Parents will be asked to provide consent re photographing/filming their child and emergency treatment

• Coaches undertake risk assessments of venues and the activities in question

We have a zero-tolerance policy for skateboarding without protection. We provide the appropriate safety equipment recommended including head, wrist, elbow, knee and full body protection products in children's styles and sizes. All our protective clothing and pads are of the highest quality and helmets are UK and EU certified to the EN 1078 standard. The products are designed to be lightweight and comfortable for easier wearing and a safer ride.

A single coach can have up to 10 learners in a class. This is not only for the safety of the children, but it also allows for enough time to be spent in one-to-one coaching.

All coaches undergo training in how to teach children and young people to skateboard, which has been informed by the BASI (British Association of Snowsport Instructors) qualification.

Never seen them this happy after a club. Honestly an awesome experience for them and will definitely be around for the next one! Huge thank you to all of you.

Mother of 7- and 10-year-olds

Achievements and performance

Farnham Programme

Overview

Fifty-seven (57) children (20 girls and 37 boys) between the ages of 7 and 14 from nine different schools (one home educated), based in or around Farnham, Surrey, attended two five-day coaching programmes at Farnham Skatepark (and Weydon School) from 10.00am to 2.00pm between 24 July to 28 July and 31 July to 4 August 2023.

We had planned to deliver two five-day coaching programmes at Farnham Skatepark, but wet weather made this impossible, so the coaching was delivered at Weydon School, in Farnham, on four of the ten days.

The children and young people who participated in The Skateboarding Foundation Programme launch in Farnham not only had a better experience than they thought they would but spoke openly about enjoying themselves, making new friends, improving their skateboarding, getting out of their comfort zones, having at least one celebratory moment and learning something about themselves and others.

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Coaches

Nine potential coaches between the ages of 16 and 18 were recruited and interviewed. Eight of the nine were able to coach during the programme. These eight coaches delivered the programme to four age groups. Two of the coaches were female and six were male.

Coordination

Most of the day-to-day logistics and coordination of the two weeks of coaching was managed by the Farnham based founder of Resin8 Skate who kindly stored and transported all equipment and remained on site during the programme.

Risk management

Every morning a risk assessment and any risk mitigation actions were undertaken. We provided helmets, boards, knee pads, wrist guards and elbow pads to those learners who didn’t have their own.

Coaching programme

The programme involved daily warm-up and a progression through the Skateboarding Foundation coaching programme, EduSkate (further information about which is available).

The learners progressed faster than we were expecting and by the end of the third day on both weeks all the younger learners were able to push off and turn both on the flat and on ramps whilst the older learners were ‘dropping in’ to steeper ramps.

Engagement

All parents registered their children on an online form providing contact details, details about their son’s/daughter’s skateboarding experience and giving consent to medical treatment (if required) and photographs and video being taken.

We created a private closed Facebook Group for parents and family members of the learners for us to communicate with and share photos and videos. We also emailed parents to ensure we communicated with them all.

Informal feedback

Feedback was received informally in person, by email and on the private Facebook Group. The feedback from the learners and their parents was universally positive. A separate document has been created showing all feedback received during the week (available on request), some of which is shown in boxes throughout this report.

D had a brilliant day thank you, looking forward to tomorrow.

Mother of 9-year-old

Evaluation

17 parents complete a short online evaluation form, some of the results are shown below:

Q: How do you rate The Skateboarding Foundation overall?

A: 100% (17) rated 5 out of 5 Excellent

Q: Would your son/daughter attend a future week or weekend programme?

A: 16 responded ‘Definitely’ and 1 responded ‘Probably’

Q: Would you recommend The Skateboarding Foundation programme to others?

A: 100% (17) responded ‘Definitely’

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Both of my kids loved the lessons. Thank you so much for organising and the brilliant team you assembled! Will you be setting up a regular class?

Mother of 8- and 9-year-olds

Fundraising

In Kind Donations

In February we were contacted by a company called o3e (that works with corporates on team-building challenges that give back to charity and the community) about a potential donation of some skateboards by their client LexisNexis.

The company held an event where LexisNexis staff built and decorated new skateboards, 32 of which were donated to the Skateboarding Foundation. Our Chair Paul Rompani attended the event to thank the corporate and speak about the work of the charity and how the skateboards will support the people we work with.

It was fun, I learned some tricks and made a friend.

8-year-old learner

Financial Donations

In June we manage to secure a £5,000 donation from The Masonic Charitable Foundation.

In July/August nine parents of learners at the Farnham Skate Camp kindly and generously made donations to the Skateboarding Foundation following the conclusion of the programme, totalling £520.

In December we received a £1,000 donation from an employee of Team Lewis through their employee donation programme.

I learnt how to go down the ramps and I also liked having donuts. But mainly going down the ramps. 10-year-old learner

Governance

During the year we reviewed the engagement of the trustees with three of the founding trustees opting to step down. Consequently, we launched a recruit drive for new trustees who have the time, energy and commitment to enable the charity to achieve its objectives. This resulted in enquiries from 13 people, six of whom were interviewed, three of whom were appointed during the year. Following their appointment, the three founding trustees stepped down.

We thank Dom, Charlie and Shrey for their significant contributions to the establishment and development of the charity.

Thank you so much for the sessions my daughter attended, she absolutely loved it.

Mother of 12-year-old

Future plans

In 2023 we aim to establish a Skateboarding Foundation Chapter in Farnham comprising volunteers who will be responsible for coordinating future skateboard coaching programmes to be delivered during holidays and/or weekends at the Farnham Skatepark. These volunteers would be responsible for looking after and maintaining equipment and the First Aid Kit, undertaking daily risk assessments, preparing the skatepark for the learners, attaching branded banners and liaising with the coaches. They would also engage the local community (and corporate, public and not-for-profit organisations) to help raise awareness and funds.

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Following what we learned from delivering the Farnham programme we have revised our launch ‘model’ budget, policies, procedures and programme to ensure we can achieve our objectives efficiently and effectively with future launches in other towns and cities.

Future plans include developing a social franchise model for the charity whereby we can recruit and engage volunteers in local communities around skateparks and support them to deliver the coaching programme.

Another fantastic day, thank you all and the superb coaches!

Mother of 8-year-old

Financial review

As shown in Appendix 1, during the reporting period the charity received £6,520 income (£0 in 2022) and spent £3,091.68, which resulted in a surplus of £3,428.32 (deficit of £107.36 in 2022).

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Name: Paul Rompani Role: Chairman & Secretary

David Hughes Trustee

Date: 29 October 2024

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Appendix 1

The Skateboarding Foundation Accounts

1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Income
Trust & Foundation Grant	£5,000.00
Individual Donation	£520.00
Corporate Donation	£1,000.00
Total Income	£6,520.00
Expenditure
Borough Council Fee	£62.00
Annual Insurance	£376.26
Coaching Fees	£2,440.00
Web Domain & Email	£203.42
Skateboard England	£10.00
Total Expenditure	£3,091.68
Net Surplus/Deficit	£3,428.32
Fund balances brought forward at 1 Jan 2023	- £107.36
Fund balances carried forward at 31 Dec 2023	£3,320.96

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