Charlton closed. Private lessons available at Folkestone Gardens, Deptford.

Fences have been pushed down by riders but Charlton skatepark remains officially closed despite government relaxing restrictions on outdoor activity. It seems odd, with many organised training sessions of football, a contact sport, going on at Charlton park that a non-contact sport like skateboarding is still not permitted.

You can see the Skateboard England guidance after UK government announced on the 13th May that some outdoor activity can take place. I was hoping that this would be the green light for skateboarding across the UK, as skateboarding does not require interpersonal contact. Unfortunately, it comes down to the local council whether they will reopen or not, and here we are six weeks later and the Royal Borough of Greenwich are dragging their feet.

I have offered to assist the council with implementing social distancing measures at Charlton, as recommended by Skateboard England. Sadly I haven’t heard anything back.

I’d suggest contacting your councillors to ask for the skatepark to be reopened, as it’s an invaluable public facility for our youth in these unprecedented times. Especially considering many are not returning to school, and are climbing the walls (mine is!)

Luckily Lewisham council have been more flexible, and we have been running some private skateboarding lessons without physical contact at Folkestone Gardens in Deptford. So please get in touch if you’ve any questions about running a lesson during this time.