The UK is home to 1600 official skate parks and with over 100 of those being London based you would think there would be no need to build a new one.
However, with skate parks being shut down and restrictions in place in 2020, a need arose around the globe for spaces that allow veterans and new skaters alike to enjoy and to be directly responsible for its design and creation. The Grove is one example of many around the UK to pop up during lockdown. Based in the car park of a dilapidated south London pub The Grove was started by a group of skaters who saw the space and decided, with the initial edition of a few small concrete structures, that it was perfect for their intended use. Located right next to the A205 and relatively far from the nearest residence helped reduce complaints. However, it evolved far beyond this by becoming a widely supported community space which hosted events and fundraisers with a self-regulating community of skaters ensuring that it stayed a valuable and welcoming space for the public.
Here three Grove regulars speak about the space and what it means to them
Sam,31, lives in forest hill and is an active Grove community member said
“I came here when there was just one little ramp in the corner one of my friends sent to me on Instagram. So I came straight down and met Theo and some others, It was the start of lockdown, maybe march and we had just come out of winter and it was the start of spring so we were all hyped to get out and skate and we just started building we had seen what others were doing and got inspired and wanted to add to it.”
“I probably come down twice a week but I want to come down more in the summer when it’s not dark at 5, but we have Tilly who brings down lights so you can skate till much later.”
When asked what Grove meant to the community, especially over lockdown he explained that “(kids) learn their boundaries of safety and learn what their capable of” and that the freedom to build what they want and to teach kids these skills because “I think it’s healthy for them, those things are in everyday life”.
Tilly, 38 from Dulwich is a heavily involved local volunteer, explained how she found out about the grove.
Tilly said she had never skated or been involved with skateparks previously but was interested and started to volunteer at the Grove and “found her niche” She then explained how she found it over lockdown
“I met someone in Peckham rye who was handing out stickers and I found them online. On their Instagram, they were talking about this project and I thought I would come down to have a look. I had no intention to volunteer. I just thought I’d have a look and eventually, I started helping out and doing a bit of skating myself which I had never done before lockdown. I usually come down
from Monday to Friday any dry day usually from six to around eight I’ll come down and help out. During the winter months, I provide portable floodlights so that the skaters can continue a bit later.“
“I think it is a very important place for people, especially during the lockdown and I hope it continues for a long time”
Theo, a 20-year-old student from East Dulwich, got involved over lockdown and described what the Grove means to him.
“I’ve been coming down since May 2020, I was walking my dog and saw some kids skating and a few older guys building a ramp. I went over to see if I could help and pretty much since then we’ve been good friends. I like the scale of builds here because we mix the concrete ourselves and have less equipment we have more small builds, unlike most normal skateparks which have a few larger ramps although I want to see different groups get involved with the building, not just the main crew”
“It’s been crazy for all our fundraising days support has been overwhelming we thought we would get a few 100 pounds in donations but we’ve probably raised 4000 pounds at this point for different charities it’s been cool to be able to give to the community in the form of donations”
For Theo being involved with the Grove community, building and organizing fundraisers launched him into the wider skate community and he is now involved with charities going overseas to build skate parks and establish communities around them.