Boardertown in College Hill is working on a community initiative called A Very Skateboard Christmas, where they collect old skateboards and skateboard parts, repair and reinvent them and give them to less fortunate children for Christmas presents.
“We felt that it would be great as a collective skateboard community to work together to give back,” says Tim Guy, owner of the Boardertown, College Hill store.
“By working with our customers, suppliers, friends and the wider community I think that this is a really positive way to bring people together and for people donating, the items will normally end up in the rubbish or under the house.”
Last year they collected and repaired over 50 skateboards, which were given to Barnados, a New Zealand-based child and family service organisation, to distribute.
Both new and used boards and parts will be accepted up until mid-December, at which time they will be built into complete boards to give to as many children as possible for Christmas.
“We chose skateboarding as it’s something we’d all grown up doing and still do,” says Mike Lawrence of the Lost Boys Collective. “With skating you don’t need much, just a board and you’re good to go.
“We have always felt that skateboarding has given us so much and we wanted to find a way to pass this forward. We decided we would try to get as many skateboards together as we could and get them to kids who might go without at Christmas.”
Even if you don’t have any skateboards or parts to give you can still contribute by donating to the Lost Boys initiative. One hundred precent of all money donated will be used to purchase skateboard parts to boost the final numbers.
Already 2016 is looking to be the biggest year for the initiative. With even more support from the skateboarding community and building on previous years, they are going to be able to set a new high for the number of children they can reach. (GEORGE SHIERS)
Boards and parts are collected at the following locations:
BOARDERTOWN, 3 College Hill, T: 09 973 0575
DEF, 82 Pitt Street