*Names have been changed

This week, families supported by Hestia got on board with a pizza and skateboarding day, sailing from ramps to rails and gorging on a cheesy midday treat.

Despite the rain, more than 40 mums and their children arrived padded up and ready to go at London’s BAYSIXTY6 skate park, before being shown the ropes by two professional skateboard instructors.

With not so much as scrape or a graze, largely down to a grand total of 84 knee and elbow protectors on hand, we’d consider it a pretty successful day.

Supported by our Children & Family Workers Family Fitness Programme Facilitators and one of our dedicated volunteers, we were able to ensure both the morning and the afternoon sessions were full to the brim with happy faces.

After stopping for a pepperoni-laden lunchtime snack (17 pizzas in total!), we were back to it, watching a group of four-year-olds learning to do tricks and jumps and excited to take their newfound skill back home with them.

Even the mums were wrapped up in the fun, sliding down the ramps on their fronts and bums and secretly enjoying it more so than their children.

Ellis*, Nine, said:

“I had such an amazing time with mum and the other children and I’m so happy I got to learn something as cool as skateboarding.”

It’s not always easy for children to dive head-first into taking on a new ability, and it’s especially scary when it’s something active or harbours potential risk, like skateboarding. One little girl was scared to join at first, but by the end of the first session she was beaming with confidence, telling her mum about all the new things she could on a skateboard.

After the session, families were allowed to take home their unique skateboards (that includes mums, too!) to practice at home and at other skate parks over the summer.

Jessica Harrison, Family Fitness Programme Manager at Hestia, said:

“What a successful day! Seeing the mums and children taking part in equal measure, laughing and smiling, was a real pleasure. As well as a big thanks to my wonderful team, I’d like to say a massive thank you to Avanti for donating all of the skateboards. Without their generosity we can’t host days like this, so it really means a lot.”

Avanti, one of Hesita’s most recent corporate partners, kindly donated every skateboard for use on the day and for the families to take home. We’d like to extend an added thanks for their ongoing support and commitment to the individuals we support.

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