Hey there skaters, Mel here. This is easily one of the most exciting pieces of news! I’m excited and anxious to know what you all think!
Isn’t it amazing how roller skating can build your confidence to do things you never knew you were capable of?
I never expected to travel the world with roller skates.
I never expected to have a team of coaches.
I never expected to see hundreds of people each month attend skate sessions.
I never expected to be a skate shop owner.
I never expected to become an award-winning business or have people from around the world seek out Roller Girl Gang!
Recently, I’ve challenged my thought process. Why shouldn’t I expect these amazing things? If it can be imagined, it can be achieved, it just may take longer or more work.. for the longest time I’ve had a goal of opening a dedicated skate space in Leeds. To rink or not to rink? Well, I’ve certainly consulted on a few rink projects in Leeds in the last 3 years and there is a lot of challenge around opening a space like this. No wonder the people got fed up and stopped trying. I’m not sure that I want to run a rink (never say never, but not right now). I AM ready for the next step in Roller Girl Gang’s evolution though.
Together with the Shop Gang, coach and skate marshall team, Roller Girl Gang is planning
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to connect with more people through roller skating.
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to support more people to find their power and joy, through roller skating.
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to provide more sessions to encourage more people to find out what they can do.
We’re going to open a dedicated space to do this in – a skate studio.
This space will unite the shop and sessions – an important step for our organisation that has tried hard (and done pretty well we think!) to deliver a consistent service spread across different locations!
We will continue to deliver skate sessions at our current location the Sikh Sports Hall, where we have built a fabulous relationship with the staff there (I’ve been skating there for around 10 years) and we also want the option to offer sessions for more people or faster skating – our studio is not a sports hall.
Our new studio – location to be announced, (its 99% confirmed, but we are not quite ready to share where yet) – will house the shop and offer a lot more for other skate groups. Drop a comment below and tell us what you’d like us to offer?
We felt a Kickstarter was really important because
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we want the skate community with us in the space! Just like the gallery wall of photos in our shop now helps us to feel connected to you when you’re not there, you can be part of our space, even if you’re miles away.
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moving costs money! We know we can borrow funds, but it would help us so much if we didn’t have to do that.
Please take a look at our Kickstarter video and pledges. We’ve got all sorts on offer, from social shout outs, specially-designed limited-edition merch (you’ll be able to vote on the final merch design in the next month), having a disco ball with your name on it hung up in the studio to a super-deluxe all frills private party in the studio any time in its first year!
No money is collected until the end of the Kickstarter.
If you feel you are not able to pledge at this time, please share with your friends, family and skate-curious pals – it will help us so much!
Our Kickstarter is due to end on 5th May 2024, when we intend to reach our goal of £30,000.
