SK8 with Elevate

Talking about skating and blading (previous post) I think that Sutton Ramp Events are providing a really good service to young skaters, bladers and bmx-ers in Sutton.

They have developed strong links with the Safer Neighbourhood Police Teams, who attend all of their “Elevate” events. They also work closely with the Council’s Parks team and with the Centre for Environmental Initiatives bike project.

The group was formed in January 2005 and is a faith-based initiative organised by local churches to meet the need of skating, blading and bmx-ing young people in Sutton. I first heard of them when they ran a very successful week long skating event as a part of the "Soul in the City" initiative back in the summer of 2004.

This summer they put on some excellent skate events in Royston Park. These included fun and serious competitions; skills sharing and beginner’s taster sessions. Over 200 young people attended the first event of the year.

They hope to build an Indoor Youth and Ramp Centre in Sutton sometime in the future. The centre would offer something for all youth subcultures thus promoting understanding and respect between different groups of young people.

If you would like to know more about them, take a look at their website: www.elevate-sutton.com

FUN ON A SATURDAY MORNING

On Saturday I spent some of the morning at the Carshalton, Wallington and Beddington Safer Neighbourhood Teams’ young people's fair at Westcroft Leisure Centre.

I was really impressed by the turn out of groups ranging from kickboxers to cheerleaders and Youth FM Radio presenters to ‘Elevate’ skate board and blading events, who were willing to show off their skills and hoping to attract new members.

This was the first year that the event has been run and I know that the organisers are already planning a bigger, better event to be held outdoors next year. Look out for adverts in the local press and through schools.

Photo: Sgt Kim Braybrook, Wallington South Safer Neighbourhood Team and Judith Smith, Sutton Ramp Events

SMARTER TRAVEL IN SUTTON

In August, Sutton Council was invited to compete for funds to run an exciting project to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions. The project was organised by Transport for London (TfL) and we had to take part in a competitive bid against 10 other London boroughs with the winner being awarded £5 million.

The final stage of the bid was ‘sudden death playoff’ against Harrow and I was delighted to lead Sutton’s bid team. The rest as they say is history. We won the bid and we are now working out exactly how to use the money.

Our bid was successful in large part due to the Council’s record on environmental projects, but credit is also due to the Conservative Opposition on Sutton Council who supported the final bid and have continued to support the project since that time.

Sutton will now spearhead the UK and possibly the world’s most ambitious sustainable transport project. During the next three years the Smarter Travel Sutton project, will work with schools, large and small businesses and local residents to develop innovative ways to reduce congestion and offer alternatives to using the car.

The project also aims to improve people’s health by encouraging walking and cycling and by improving air quality. And there will be new car clubs set up around the borough to allow local residents to hire cars by the hour.

Sutton residents have shown how much they care about the environment by consistently recycling more waste than almost every other London borough. We all now have an opportunity to take this environmental action further by working together to reduce our dependency on the car and cut our climate change impact, leaving a positive legacy for future generations.