The low-cost sessions make skateboarding ‘accessible’ and provide a ‘safe space’ for children and teenagers, the skatepark’s co-founder said
Young people will lose a ‘precious safe space’ if a skatepark inside a Decathlon store is pushed out in favour of pickleball courts, its founder has said. Skate Haven has been running affordable after-school sessions within the flagship store in Surrey Quays for almost three years but has now been told to leave by the end of October.
Their ramps and rails are reportedly being replaced with additional indoor pickleball courts in a bid to increase the French sports brand’s daytime revenue. Skate Haven co-founder Ricardo believes the move will destroy something that’s ‘much more valuable’ to London.
“It doesn’t seem like they’ve thought about it all and just gone ‘yeah, let’s make more money’,” the 33-year-old told MyLondon. “Is that really all those kids are to you? You can’t put a price on community.
“Children can come to us and their parents know they’re okay and not lingering outside on the streets, especially in winter. The alternative is really only the Southbank, which I wouldn’t necessarily send my kids to on their own. Whereas here, you have six-year-olds skating with teenagers and adults, having loads of fun – it’s a great dynamic.
“Plus, some of our young people are neurodivergent and parents say to me ‘We finally found something that he loves doing’. Skateboarding just gives you so much physically and mentally – and children are going to lose that opportunity to learn.”
Skate Haven is one of the cheapest activities within the Decathlon store, a purposeful business model at the very heart of the social enterprise. Ricardo and his co-director Miguel set up the classes to tackle the social inequality they became aware of whilst teaching private skateboarding lessons, and rely heavily on grants and donations.
They offer £6-£9, and occasionally free, sessions with the option of £2 gear rental, which significantly cuts down the initial equipment costs for families. Ricardo estimates 200 – 300 people have taken part since 2024.
He worries the proposed pickleball courts are geared at a different demographic, leaving his young skaters with little suited to them. “The activity section floor is just going to be racket sports,” he said.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m against pickleball itself but it is mostly played by retirees and middle class folk. Skateboarding is very social, but with these sports you’re just standing behind a net, hitting a ball to each other. I don’t see why it’s such a good idea.”
The eviction is just one of many upsets in London’s skateboarding scene in the last six months, with multiple of the capital’s few remaining venues put at risk. In April, staff at Bermondsey’s Hop Kingdom arrived to find the locks of the indoor skatepark changed amid a row over rent arrears.
Owner Ben Hopkinson claims his repeated attempts to arrange a sustainable repayment plan went unanswered for six weeks before learning his lease had been terminated. Skaters were also forced to launch a campaign against the construction of padel courts on the community-funded Barking Skate Park.
GLL, which runs Better leisure centres, said it had made the decision after visitor numbers “fell by 25 per cent” and that the skatepark had made “a financial loss every year”. More than 4,000 people backed an online plea calling for the demolition to be called off – to no avail.
Parents and frustrated locals have launched an appeal of their own in support of Skate Haven, which has so far garnered more than 900 signatures. The petition says removing the sessions contradicts Decathlon’s mission statement of making sport accessible to all and calls on bosses to either retain the existing facility or work with the community to provide an equivalent alternative space.
Ricardo said: “If they let us have this space until the end of the year, that would at least give us more time to sort things out. It seems a little unfair that we’ve only been given two months.
“The sessions are packed in the winter. It’s a bit of a slap in the face for this to happen when everyone is just starting to come back inside again. Now I have to somehow come up with a business plan, find a new partner, reach out to schools.”
He added: “I’m really just putting all my energy into relocating because I really feel we are losing the battle.”
Decathlon has been approached for comment.
You can sign the petition in support of Skate Haven on Change.org
Got a story for MyLondon? Get in touch via [email protected]
Don’t miss out on the biggest local stories. Sign up to our MySouthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more
