Malmesbury Abbey Skate

Skate '09 Competition and Awards Ceremony.

 

To open the competition the girls, who had taken part in the Collective's singing workshops, treated us to a great performance of two songs.

 

There was a big crowd and a great atmosphere as everyone cheered the skaters and roller bladers on. Each competitor had two lots of two minuets to show their best skating as the judges took notes.

There was lots of impressive skating and courage on show. 

The winners of first, second and third place in all the different competition categories, line up together for a final photo, with their well deserved trophies and prizes.

Final day of Skate'09.

The day began with another beginner's session. 

Our youngest skaters continue to impress with their fearlessness on the park, learning new skills each day and practising hard to perfect them.

BBC Persian were with us nearly all day, capturing the different events and interviewing many people. We found ourselves in a huge range of papers, from the FT to the Sun, from San Francisco to Croatia!

The beginner's session was followed by another open skate session. These are wonderful to watch.

And there were more great, high energy performances from girl band Collective.

Collective also ran the second singing workshop, and the girls from the workshop will perform two songs at the competition and award ceremony tonight.

First full day of Skate'09.

The weather outside was rather grey but there was plenty of colour and excitement inside the Abbey, with a full day of skate sessions, a singing workshop and live music provided by the Collective girl band. The Day began with another beginner's session. Many who had never skated before, braved the ramps with help from the team.

  

Later girls of all ages took advantage of the first 'girls only' skate session. Followed by a singing workshop and performance from Collective. 

It was great to welcome hundreds of people to skate and enjoy the atmosphere and cafe with friends.

Praise God for another fantastic day.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the skate competition.

There are new skills to master and trophies and prizes to be one!

Should be great to watch too, so come along to support even if you are not planning to take part.

TV and media coverage.

There were many different news organisations filming and taking photos this morning. Locals papers, the BBC, ITV and others. The skate park featured on BBC Points West and ITV West Country as well at being on the 6pm news on Radio 4. If you didn't manage to catch it first time around you can listen again by following these links:

BBC Points West.

Radio 4, Six O'Clock News.

Gazette and Herald Newspaper.

   

Robert Piggot from the BBC considers using a skate board to present his piece to camera before deciding to try a different approach with feet firmly on the ground. 

And here interviewing Rev.Neill Archer and some of the many skaters who were at the park this morning. 

Skate'09 opens.

  The Bishop of Swindon, Lee Rayfield, opened Malmesbury Abbey Skate '09 at 6pm this evening.

The ramps quickly filled and so did the cafe and platforms for those watching the skating.

The first skate session was for beginners. 

Then there was a performance by 'Collective' a local girl band who have been touring local schools and events for several years now. 

The cafe sells hot dogs, hot chocolate, tea and coffee, crisps and lollipops and is open all day. 

More that 70 young people used the skate park this evening and we expect even more tomorrow. 

It's been a fantastic day, with lots of impressive skating and a great atmosphere.

The Skate'09 team met at the end of the evening to clean straw off the park and get everything ready for tomorrow.

Then we ended the evening by sharing communion in the middle of the skate park.

Our first day is over, but there's much more to come yet! 

See you all tomorrow.

Straw bales arrive... testing the floor out.

At 9am bales of straw from a local farm arrived and a big team of volunteers brought them inside. 

They will provide padding to protect skaters from stone, and stone from flying skateboards.

They were rather heavy! 

The girls stayed inside to check on progress and the local press were taking photos for tomorrow's papers.

The floor surface gets the thumbs up as we test skateboards and roller blades on it.

Later this afternoon the ramps will be set up - and then at 6pm this evening the Bishop of Swindon, Christian Skaters UK, and Collective will all be there when the skate park opens.

There is a beginners and an open skate session this evening. 

See you there...

One day to go! The floor goes down...

With help from ROK builders, members of the Abbey's congregation are taking care to protect the Abbey's ancient fabric with layers of wood. Held together with a huge pile of 1600 screws, these will protect the floor from the hundreds of wheels that will be zipping down ramps for the next few days. 

The team organising the event have already received over 200 bookings and, importantly, the food has started to arrive!

The cafe is also starting to take shape with the Church office sofas being brought over.

There is an excited buzz as the park begins to take shape and we can't wait to bring in the ramps!

If you haven't booked your skate session yet (you do not need to book but it guarantees you a place) just e-mail skate@malmesburyabbey.com 

Skate Park Information:

We are delighted that many people have already booked their place at one of the Malmesbury Abbey Skate sessions. It is not necessary to book beforehand, but it is the only way to guarantee a place. You can book by e-mailing skate@malmesburyabbey.com (Busy sessions may be split into several smaller time periods to give more people a go.)

Morning, afternoon or evening skate sessions costs £2 payable on the door – and you will need to bring along your liability waiver (print one from this blog) signed by your parents (if you are under 18).

The Café is open each day from 10am – 9.30pm. You can hang around in the Abbey, free, all day. In fact we hope you will! There will be live music, short soap box talks, Skate DVDs playing, hot dogs and hot chocolate to buy and you can, of course, watch the skating, even if you don't want to give it a try yourself. 

There is also a singing workshop led by 'Collective', the local girl band who are providing our live music. You can sign up for this also using skate@malmesburyabbey.com and those who take the workshop will be performing at the award ceremony on the Friday night.

Please note there is likely to be significant Press / media presence on the thursday morning.

Finally, if there is any information you need and can't find - e-mail us and we'll add it to the blog asap.

We look forward to welcoming you to Skate'09 next week!

Programme for Malmesbury Abbey Skate, February 2009.

Wednesday 18th	Thursday 19th	Friday 20th
	10-11am Beginners	10-11am Beginners
	11am -1pm Open Session	11am -1pm Open Session
	Park Closed 1-2pm, café & abbey stays open
	Talk 1.50pm Being Human	Talk 1.50pm Friendship
	2-3pm Under 12s	2-3pm Under 12s
	3-5pm Open Session	3-5pm Open Session
	3-5pm Singing Workshop (11+)	3-5pm Singing Workshop (11+)
	Park closed 5-6pm, café & abbey stays open
6-7pm Beginners	6-7 Girls only	6-7 Girls only
7pm Collective Live	7pm Collective Live	7pm Collective Live
7.30-9.30pm           Open Session	7.30-9.30pm           Open Session	7.30-9.30pm Competition, Performance &  Awards Ceremony
9.30pm Abbey Closes	9.30pm Abbey Closes	9.30pm Abbey Closes

 

Morning, afternoon or evening sessions costs £2 payable on the door – you can book a place by e-mailing skate@malmesburyabbey.com

Café open each day from 10am – 9.30pm