Website www.elevate-sutton.com

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Sutton Ramp Events runs activities for skateboarders, BMXers and bladers.  It started after Soul in the City 2004 in response to the success of the skate park project Sutton cluster ran.  The project has been developing rapidly over the last year.  Recently the group became a company and a registered charity and received funding to employ a full-time co-ordinator.  This has put us in a much stronger position to develop and expand what we do. 

The organisation exists to enhance the quality of life for young people and promote community cohesion.  We do this by running skateboarding, BMXing and blading activities and trying to increase access to facilities for these sports in Sutton Borough.  As a result of this work we aim to:

Encourage healthier lifestyles;

• Actively engage young people, reducing antisocial behaviour;
• Promote tolerance and respect between youth sub-cultures and break down barriers between young people, the authorities and the general public, resulting in greater community cohesion and
• Equip young people to positively contribute to wider community and help them have a voice in the community.

Currently our main activity is a series of events called “Elevate”.  These are held monthly at St Helier Skate Park and consist of competitions, music and skills sharing.  We get up to 100 youngsters coming to skate or ride at our events and often their friends and families who don’t skate come along to watch.  We are also working with Sutton Mencap to hold taster skateboarding sessions for people with disabilities.  During the winter months, when it is not safe to skate on the outside ramps, we will be running coach trips to indoor skate parks.

As well as these activities on council skate parks, we are in discussions with the police and local schools to explore ways of working with them next summer.   Part of our vision is to build an indoor skate park and youth centre so that there is a safe, supervised place for young people to go to at any time of the year.  We are in the process of setting up a meeting with the council about this and pray that we will be able to move forwards quickly with this exciting project.       

The work of Sutton Ramp Events is driven by Christians’ desire for social action to benefit the young people in Sutton and the surrounding areas, working on the premise that actions speak louder than words.  However, it is important that these youngsters are told about Christianity so a group of people have formed an organisation called “Impact Sutton”, whose purpose is to reach them with the gospel message.   Working parallel to Sutton Ramp Events, but not overlapping with their work, Impact Sutton will be finding new and culturally relevant ways of sharing the gospel.  It has been given a donation to go towards employing a youthworker to progress this work and we are currently looking to raise more funding to make this a reality.

If you would like to find out more about the work we are doing or feel able to contribute to the work in any way please do get in touch with Catherine Keen on

020 8642 8117. 

For more information contact Sutton Ramp Events: Tel: 020 8642 8117. Email: suttonrampevents@dsl.pipex.com