A NEW ‘community cultural hub for youth culture’ called Skate Space at St Ouen’s Methodist Church is close to opening its doors.
The four-year journey has had more twists and turns than one of Tony Hawk’s signature tricks – with both planning and the weather slowing the pace of transformation.
But the giant block of internal scaffold in starting to be dismantled, creating space for the neatly stacked ramp along the side of the former chapel to be manoeuvred into place.
Finally, the dream for a ‘skate space’ complete with video-editing suite and a focus on music, art and working with partners to provide ‘skate therapy’, is near completion.
Driving the project with a brimful of enthusiasm has been professional photographer Natalie Mayer, who co-founded the Skate Space charity behind the scheme.
Speaking from a large sofa made miniscule by the vastness of the pew-less Victorian church, Natalie said that she was both relieved and delighted that the first skate was tantalisingly close after a herculean effort by a lot of people, including volunteers, sponsors and supportive tradespeople offering generous discounts.
She said: “We were first brought here four years ago and asked if we had any ideas for this space. We did, so put it forward to the church, who approved it.
“We then had to get planning permission, which we thought would be just filling in a form because we were not making any fundamental changes to the building. However, it turned out that process took two years.
“We got approval in 2023 but then Storm Ciarán hit that November which damaged the roof, so it was either throw the towel in or figure out how to get the roof repaired.
“So, I worked out how to do that, and it’s just complete!”
Natalie added that it was a big community collaboration to get the roof fixed, which including fundraising to bridge some insurance underfunding.
The planning application for the repairs had also taken time because bats had moved into the listed building. During the elongated process, water leaked into the ceiling so panels had to be replaced.
“We now have an incredibly watertight building so we can finally start moving forward,” she said.
She admitted that the storm damage had been “a real low point” and she had evaluated the future of the project at that point, but she had decided to persevere.
“It is such an incredible space and there is so much community support behind the project that people just want to get it done,” she said. “I’m just the person that pushes it from A to B, and B to C, but there are loads of other people in between that are actually doing the practical work.”
The next step once the internal scaffold tower is taken down is to cover the floor to keep it protected and move the one ramp the project owns into place.
“It could be weeks or a couple of months,” Natalie said. “The ultimate vision would be that this is a space used in the daytime for school groups with Skateboard Jersey running coaching sessions.”
“They have been working with La Passerelle school because we know that skateboarding, with its patterned and repetitive movements, can really help kids who might not be thriving in mainstream education to self regulate. We are going to be part of a research study with an academy in Canada that are pushing this forward. Skate Therapy is a real thing, backed by science”
She added that the whole skating community would also be welcome and the site would perfectly complement other skate parks, especially when it was raining.
At the back of the building there is also a room branded ‘The Tank’ which contains filmmaking and photo-editing equipment sponsored by Sure, as a lot of skaters also like to make their own content. So it is designed to nurture their talent and promote the creative element of the sport.
The films will then be screened in the church, which will also host art and photo exhibitions and other community activities. The idea is that skateboarding might be the gel that binds people and brings them in, but then they might be drawn into other pursuits.
Reflecting on the hours of efforts that people have put in to make Skate Space so close to becoming a near reality, Natalie thanks all its contributors.
“We have had amazing support from the community; this is not just about creating a new community space; it is also about bringing life back to an incredible building for everyone to enjoy.”
