CIB Yorkshire turns Five!
CIB Yorkshire Celebrates 5 years 🎂
January 2020 our Yorkshire chapter will be 5 years old! I can still remember sending an excited email to Lady Trample asking if I could possibly set up a chapter in England. At that time there was just a UK Chapter and the London Chapter. I had contacted the London skaters and they had given me details for contacting CIB. I was so excited to begin a journey with the group I had just found on social media...and fell in love with.
It seemed there were just a handful of quad skaters who were venturing into skate park and just one or two who had been at it a while! The contrast from then to now is vast. We now have 27 active CIB chapters in the United Kingdom with park skaters in every corner of the country. With so many chapters and skaters it could seem quite segregated but it’s not...we travel a lot! We share events and encourage our skaters to meet up and plan sessions across parks and chapters. So although we are based in Yorkshire we go to many chapters and invite our local chapter pals to our meet ups.
Our group has evolved and changed over the years. Just like the ebb and flow of the tide we have had small groups and influxes of skaters to make larger group sessions. I have learned to let this happen on its own and not worry about numbers so much, just that everyone is having a good time and feels supported. I started this on my own and at times I had had the help of admins who have come and gone like the tide but appreciated all the same. We keep in touch for the most part. I am really proud of how relaxed our chapter is and how welcoming our core skaters are. We will skate with anyone and everyone is accepted. Each skater has put time and effort into creating that environment and I’m so thrilled it’s in its 5th year.
In the beginning, we held regular beginner park skater sessions and hosted regular meetups. Today’s lifestyle seems to struggle with this and so we created more of an "as and when" vibe. We encourage people to post on our group if they are going to the park if they want any skate buddies. Our new year’s resolution is to get back the once-a-month beginner session. We have a great park called The House in Sheffield who are so very supportive, we just need to set the date (hint hint). I have also managed to set up a drop-in coached session once a month at Graystone action sports in Manchester. Where anyone can come to skate on quads and ask me anything about tricks or skates. We are very lucky to have these local parks who support us. Last year saw many indoor parks close down for various reasons. Cost and misbehavior were the main causes… it was very sad. We have lost a lot of vert ramps and good parks because of this. Living in England where the weather is very unreliable, it is so important to look after our private places. I did manage to help out a local park that closed due to misconduct. A few of us helped keep the place going by paying the rates and we had a key to skate when we wanted. I was in a position to help out and have access to a private space. Maybe that’s the way some more parks will go. It’s sad that bad behavior is forcing park owners to make this decision.
The local councils seem to be keen on building outdoor places for our park users. Many are small in the plaza/ street style…we get some very weird designs. You can see who the parks are designed for and who had the greatest influence on the build. I would love to see a beautiful sweeping concrete bowl on the Yorkshire landscape one day! There are some great parks and amazing setups in the UK on the whole but our new parks here tend to street-based.
So another year is on the horizon! Skate plans are in the works and we have the announcements of our chapter admins being posted on Instagram @cibyorkshire I’m still here of course but due to my CIB Crew/ Chapter Manager commitments, I’m depending a lot more on the Chapter Admins in Yorkshire to take on the day to day duties. Back for more is Ellie, Chris, and Emma. They all have great ideas and suggestions. I love to bounce ideas around with them and plan events/games on our pages. We support each other and push each other’s skating when we need it. For all the past CIBY skaters and Admins I just want to say a massive thank you. You helped shape what CIB Yorkshire has become today. I appreciate you and your time and I hope you know you are all always welcome to drop in!
Thank you for reading. CIB has become a home to me and many more, please come and visit us in Yorkshire! We can take you to some great spots and follow it up with good grub! (food)
Much love,
Flammers
CIB Yorkshire Admin
CIB UK Admin
CIB Chapter Growth Manager