Where'd it come from?

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In 2006, a group of youths interested in skateboarding became a bit fed up with being moved on from various areas when trying to skate and get some time out. They decided to discuss this with some of their parents, who then took the issue to the Highland Council but things were slow and we got bored with waiting for something to happen.

So back to our Parents again and this time, they set up meetings to take this forward as a youth group and to see if we could make a difference.

Minginish Youth Club had recently completed the Graffiti Workshops and decided to have an exhibition and Open Day at An Tuireann in Portree. Part of the organisation included the  Highland Council and Community Centre arranging for the loan of mobile skate ramps to set up at the Open Day – this was a great success.

To keep the focus going, the next public awareness day was at the Agricultural show in Portree, again we had the portable ramps and had a raffle and collected petitions too.

We obtained over 400 names and raised £300 which we used to demonstrate the popularity of skating and that a lot of people would be interested in a dedicated facility. We also did a bag pack at the local Co-op to help with funding.

After two years we became a formal not for profit group with a constitution and a bank account and OK Skate was born.

Since then we have applied for funding and received funds from YouthLink Scotland, HIE LEC, Highland Council, Lochalsh & Skye Housing Association, all of which helped us buy the mobile half pipe that is now available for everyone around Skye and Lochalsh.