Ferndale Skate Park (f.s.p.) Ltd

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It’s never too late to SKATE!
This isn’t a sad story because we didn’t want to go down the lines as so many other Charitable organisations besides there is no way you can be unhappy around such wonderful funny, resilient, young people.
Ferndale Skate Park is situated in South Wales in the Rhondda Valleys one of the most deprived areas in Europe, and yet despite its depravity and all that goes hand in hand with it there is still a wonderful camaraderie here. A legacy handed down, left over from the mining years, a legacy that will never be lost or forgotten.

The other legacy left for us is that of mass unemployment with which comes apathy, and depression, it is not that our young people don’t want to work, it is simply that there isn’t any work here.

Long term unemployment causes such great despair with such despair our young people turn to alcohol and substance abuse, anything to escape reality. Between Maerdy, Ferndale, Tylorstown, Pontygwaith, and Wattstown, there is one leisure centre and this is strictly run, any young person found letting off steam is banned for life.

The alternatives are street corners, bus shelters, park benches and abandoned buildings of which there are many, there they can do what they please, and what pleases them is destroying them. After far too long seeing nothing being done Ruth Challoner collaborated with other like minded local residents to set up a Charitable Company Limited by guarantee.

Ruth Challoner and     Jayne Roberts approached the young people to ask what it was they wanted, the Skate Park with recreational facilities was top of the list but they didn’t believe it would happen.

Soon it turned out to be more that just a Skate Park, many came to skate, board, and BMX bike riding, others came just to hang out and be with friends,
In a safe environment away from drugs and alcohol so we added a few more strings to our bow to cater for the non-skater, we soon became the only place around where the young people of our community without restrictions or judgements placed on them. We believe in giving respect in order to gain respect

I could go on about what we do at the Skate Park;
Feed those who need feeding (the hungry, which are ever increasing).
Help with family problems that to the young people seem insurmountable.
Teach the sport and give accredited certificates.
Create employment.
Run trips and let the young people chose where they want to go and let them work out how to go about doing this with ourselves in the background for assistance.
Pay for and send young people on courses such as first aid and food hygiene
Take disengaged young people on work experience for up to a year at a time, fitting them for the work place and their future.
We take on young people with ASBO’s two that were constantly in trouble with the Police and had had several ASBO’s, both no longer are in trouble, one has an apprenticeship in carpentry, the other is back into education at College despite being bared from her last school.


I could go on and on about the things we do at the Skate Park but I won’t, whoops, too late I already have, well I had to really I am trying to get you to part with some much needed cash.

Honestly I could go on and on, we are part of the out of schools activity program and have schools coming four days a week.

Our equipment is worn and we are desperate for new equipment to hire out
as the young people cannot afford to buy their own. We also want to add more to our facility but all this cost money a commodity we are desperately short of. We would love to be self sustaining, but our prices are kept low in order for the young people to use the skate park……..

All sports have their different skills be it football, rugby, tennis, snooker etc. But honestly the sport these young people have chosen boarding, blading BMX bike riding doesn’t only require skill but hours and hours of practice and guts which believe me isn’t in short supply its probably the only the thing we are not short of at the skate park.

I can’t understand why it isn’t a well recognised sport like the others I’ve mentioned. We invite anyone who wishes to come along and watch or take part you would be very welcome and we will even throw in a free lesson.