The laughter of the Skatefresh instructors could be heard throughout the 11.36 train to Brighton, just one sign of the great atmosphere that Skatefresh creates where ever they go. This train was headed to the Skatefresh 10^th anniversary celebrations in Brighton where a crowd of inline and roller skaters were gathering by the west pier to enjoy their craft beside the sea in the sunshine. Skatefresh, provides inline and rollerblading lessons in London and Brighton, to schools, groups and private learners at all levels and has become in its 10 years a well respected member of the skating community.

Just like any other birthday party where friends and family gather to celebrate, the Skatefresh anniversary saw skaters of all levels, styles, backgrounds and abilities come to Brighton to party in the name of a company that means so much to them all. The nature of Skatefresh’s business meant that skaters from all over were out on the pier, some jumping feet into the air while others practiced the techniques from their lessons with Skatefresh instructors. Not all the party goers were tutees or instructors and many of the Skatefresh extended family were present. Including the company I volunteer for, Rolladome Allskate, a non-profit organisation teaching children to skate in West London, the Eastbourne Sk8school, skaters from serpentineroad.com, Nottingham, Camberley and the LondonSkate Sound Crew, who provided the music.

With scorching temperatures of 25 °C this gathering of skate enthusiasts had picked the right day for a party, a street skate through Brighton and a quick paddle in the sea. The skater’s spent the day entertaining the crowd of spectators that had gathered with demonstrations of freestyle slalom and some crazy dance moves. Although, the highlight had to be the Skatefresh tribute to Michael Jackson in the form of a 30 man moonwalk on skates (to check out the video on YouTube click here). Skatefresh’s founder Asha Kirkby, even signed an autograph or two for children who had seen her on the Children’s BBC programme Skate Nation, where she is a judge.

Starting in the afternoon the atmosphere and music didn’t end until late on Saturday evening with skaters still “rolling” to the sounds of the ASBOx as darkness fell over Brighton, it was a great day and as people left the beach what struck me most about this birthday party was the array of people who all expressed what can only be described as affection for Asha and for Skatefresh itself, which had allowed them to gain good friends and good memories. Asha, told me that she had wanted everyone at the Skatefresh birthday party “to share their love of wheels” and as the day ended it had done exactly that not only did we celebrate 10 years of Skatefresh but we also celebrated the family spirit of the Skatefresh community. Where even spectators were encouraged to go home and get their skates on or as one person put it “get their skates out of the attic”. I honestly left Brighton that evening with the sense that I had become a member of the Skatefresh family, having made new friends, unforgettable moments and learnt lots of new moves or at least tried to!

Dinita Moore.

For more pictures click here.