Skateistan Launches New 'Safe To Skate' Campaign

December 13, 2019

Beyond Sport Global Award winners, Skateistan, have launched new campaign ‘Safe to Skate’ that aims to provide a safe space for children to learn, play, express themselves and skate through their skate schools.

‘Safe to Skate’ is Skateistan’s most ambitious campaign to date, with a target to raise $200,000 for Skateistan’s skateboarding and educational programs.

The charity works in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa and has a focus on reaching children from groups which are often excluded from educational opportunities, such as girls, children living with disabilities and children from low income backgrounds.

‘Safe to Skate’ launches this month with a special short film and will run until the end of the year. The campaign features four current Skateistan students, who tell the story of safety at Skateistan through their personal experiences. One of the students featured is Safia, who lives in an internally displaced people’s camp in Afghanistan. Her education had been disrupted by conflict in the region and she was out of school. Through Skateistan, she was able to catch up on her education and return to formal schooling.

Through this campaign, Skateistan is aiming to broaden the conversation around the meaning of safety, with a series of short videos of prominent skateboarders and ambassadors for the organisation reflecting on what ‘safe to skate’ means to them. This series was kicked off by Vanessa Torres on the first day of the campaign.
“Safety is something that’s easy to take for granted.” Skateistan Founder and Executive Director Oliver Percovich said of the campaign.

“Through ‘Safe to Skate’ we want to highlight the different ways that Skateistan helps children to feel safe, not only by providing a safe physical environment, but by surrounding our students with staff members that they can trust, and by giving them space to express themselves without fear or judgement.”

Skateistan were Official Winners of the 2013 Beyond Sport Global Award in the Sport for Education category. Learn more about the Awards here.