EVSC x CHUCK x HASTINGS

The East Van Skate Crows are privileged to be skating on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬtəməxʷ (Katzie), Semiahmoo, qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We thank the incredible Indigenous peoples past and present for protecting, defending, and caring for the land of Turtle Island.

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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡🖤
Thank you to every single person who came out this weekend to hang out, teach and participate in our EVSC Skate Camp weekend by holding space for each other at Chuck Bailey Skatepark & Hastings Skatepark.

With the help of our sponsor @parkppl through the TD Park People Grant 2021, we were able to create an event centered around park history, environmental sustainability, stewardship, and community-building, while bringing more visibility to rollerskaters in skateparks.

We provided 40 people with take-home Skate Kits, which included first aid kits and a naloxone training & kit led by @oliver.fist902, so that we can better protect and take care of our fellow community members as people who spend a lot of time in parks.

It was so incredible seeing so many roller skaters at the parks, supporting and cheering each other on.

Please read as we’d like to clarify a few things about our CTV News coverage of our EVSC Skate Camp from Saturday, July 31st 2021.

We want to make things very clear about this coverage – although it’s nice to have visibility of roller skaters in parks, and the work we are doing in parks and community spaces, at no time was the point of the events to teach kids about the dangers of drugs. The event was attended by all adults and one teenager, we are not kids and it was rather surprising to be labelled and assumed as such.

Most importantly, we created an event centered around environmental sustainability, stewardship, and community. We started with land education, a group park clean-up, skate workshop, and then our naloxone training. We were not interested in teaching the dangers of drugs, only how to recognize an overdose, administer naloxone, and care for our fellow community members. People who use drugs deserve love, care, and safety, and we want to arm more people with the ability to provide those things.

Check out our Instagram for any future events and meetups.

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The East Van Skate Crows are once again proud recipients of the TD Park People Grant for 2021 and are hosting a FREE skate camp event that will get you involved with your local parks and community! This event is put on for roller skaters by roller skaters, but can include skaters of any wheels who are interested in freshening up their park skating skills, community-building with peers, and making a difference in their local parks.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

What: A skate park cleanup & meet up event with a variety of levels, featuring a NALOXONE training and take-home kit. Priority for sign-up will be given to queer and BIPOC skaters. Beginners who are interested in learning more about park skating are welcome and encouraged to attend this free event where special attention will be given to new park skaters to build park etiquette and confidence, while workshopping intermediate-level tricks for more advanced skaters. Before skating, we will kick off the event with a park clean up together, and then host a naloxone training where you will be taught how to use the life-saving medication used to block the effects of opioids. You will be given a take-home Skate Kit which will include compact cleaning equipment for future park cleanups, a mini First Aid kit, and a Naloxone kit.

When & Where: Please sign up using the form below to save your spot and claim your Skate Kit. Feel free to sign up for one or both days. Both days will feature similar programming with slight adjustments depending on the park, and you will be given only one take-home Skate Kit.

Saturday, July 31st, 2021 from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Chuck Bailey Skatepark (13458 107a Ave, Surrey, BC V3T 0G4)

and/or

Sunday, August 1st, 2021 from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Hastings Skatepark (Renfrew St and Pandora St, two blocks north of Hastings St.)

Who: This event is made possible by the amazing collaboration between the East Van Skate Crows, Park People, and TD Canada.

TD Park People Grants program is providing essential funding to support park groups in delivering over 334 awesome nature-based activities that foster environmental education, sustainability and stewardship in cities across Canada. Together, TD and Park People are helping to bring Canadians together to unlock the power of parks because they know that when people are connected to nature in their parks and communities, people are happier and communities feel more connected to nature and each other. What better way to demonstrate this link than through ROLLER SKATING? Park People supports and mobilizes people to help them activate the power of parks to improve quality of life in cities across Canada, while TD Bank provides funding for events like these through the The Ready Commitment, a multi-year program launched to help individuals and communities prosper. TD is committed to investing $1 billion CAD by 2030 back into community groups, programs, and businesses such as EVSC, which means more events that invest in community, play, joy, and the link between nature and mental health.

Why: To bring together park history, park clean-ups, sustainability, stewardship, community-building, and the relationship between mental health and outdoor park accessibility through rollerskating.

Our Park People postings: https://member.parkpeople.ca/member/event?id=23066 & https://member.parkpeople.ca/member/event?id=22906

Follow @eastvanskatecrows, #TDParkPeople, and #TDReadyCommitment to follow along and see all the incredible community events and initiatives happening around the country!

The event is now FULL!! Thank you all so much for your interest. Please email us at eastvanskatecrows@gmail.com if you are still interested in participating.