What We Do

Our portable skatepark allows us to have a wide and varied weekly program, this is fundamental to our work. We teach several sessions across various locations every week, bringing people together in public parks, refugee camps, local schools and projects. This allows us to engage with kids of different ages, genders and from many different social, economic and cultural backgrounds.

We create inclusive spaces where we provide access to skateboarding
for all.

We delivered skateboarding sessions at refugee camps in and around Athens, including Malakassa, Eleonas and Schisto. Refugee camps tend to be built in isolated areas far from the city, underserved by public transport, hindering access to essential services and any efforts towards social inclusion. Free Movement delivered skateboarding sessions in camps, in order to offer an activity for the enjoyment and wellbeing of the camp’s youth, bringing skateboarding to some of the most marginalised people in the Attica area. We also provided regular trips for our participants to skateparks in Athens, to give them a change of environment, to inspire them and to give them an opportunity to interact socially with others.

Unfortunately, a combination of government policies setting unattainably high standards to any grassroots NGO and heavy handed refugee controls has made the camps inaccessible to us as of July 2020. We are doing what we can to renegotiate our way back into providing camp sessions and working with these young people again. We miss these participants dearly and have been told they miss skateboarding too.

Through active outreach, we offer skateboarding sessions to some of the most isolated and marginalised communities in Athens. By providing free of charge skateboarding sessions, we provide an inclusive, accessible and safe space.

We believe that through creating a space to foster wellbeing and togetherness, individuals can fulfill their potential and develop community, for a more cohesive Athenian society.

Latraac is a skate bowl and cafe located in Keramikos, designed by Zachos Varfis and built with the help of the local skate community. We regularly held community days at Latraac, bringing young people from various partner projects to skate with Greek locals, old and young, at a world class facility.

With half of our staff being women, we are constantly working towards women empowerment and gender equality in our sessions.

Two of our instructors, Denia K and Erato as part of being granted the Roll Models Grant 2022, have focused on increasing female participation, making our sessions more welcoming to the girls and generally making the women’s skate scene of Athens a lot stronger. This is being done by organising various events such as girls skate jams in our sessions where the young participants can skate with the skaters of Athens and get inspired by them, or collaborating with skateshops and skate brands e.g Skate Like a Girl to bring the Athenian girls skate community together.

We have been working with the Concrete Jungle Foundation’s Edu-Skate Curriculum, a programme for youth personal development through skateboarding: besides teaching the basics of skateboarding, it empowers youth with the tools necessary to achieve their goals and flourish, in order to be agents of change in their lives and communities.

The programme is grounded in the belief that the soft skills learnt in skateboarding mirror crucial life-skills for healthy personal development of youth. Example lesson themes include believing in yourself (confidence), establishing a supportive environment (encouragement) and getting back up after falling (resilience).