Jamaica has a burgeoning skate scene, with young people taking to the streets, constructing DIY style ramps and practising their craft. There is a real sense of community and UK non-profit Flipping Youth look to bolster this with the creation of Kingston’s first skatepark – since even since the beginning of their mission, a DIY has sprung up in Boston Bay. Nonetheless, the aim is to help divert young people from taking a dangerous path in life, through the provision of recreational facilities where they can feel safe and empowered. We sat down with founder Will Willson to discuss the inception of the project, the challenges and barriers he has faced and his plans for the future.
Words: Nathan Tuft – Shots: Will Willson
Joining the police force at 19, you have previously spoke about a “tunnel vision” view of the world and it took you travelling to expand this. What experiences did you see in those 3 years which helped you grow and develop?
Being a police officer for 10 years was an absolutely fantastic experience, you step into an underworld that ordinarily most people wouldn’t come close to, so I’m grateful for that in-depth insight into the struggles many people are facing on a daily basis. However, being in the police can be like a bubble and the “cop culture” is a difficult thing to negotiate. There is a strong sense of exaggerated machismo coupled with a lot of big egos, particularly in the front-line policing roles, so being true to your own sense of identity is very challenging. I found that I would make enemies within the policing ranks for the way I dressed when doing plain clothes work, the music I listened to (“too urban”), because I was“too friendly when talking to gang members – so essentially if you don’t conform to what the majority perceive as the norm, they will shut you out. What made this even harder is then leave the station to face a lot of hatred on the streets, so you have to be a very strong character to stay true to yourself when being a police officer and do what you believe is right.
“There is a strong sense of exaggerated machismo coupled with a lot of big egos, particularly in the front-line policing roles, so being true to your own sense of identity is very challenging.”
The gangs policing got a bit heavy and when I started having death threats and it was affecting my personal life, I could finally take a step back and reassess the meaning of what I was doing. I began to lose confidence in the criminal justice system and questioned the purpose of gang enforcement. This led to me taking a 3 year career break, during which I volunteered across Africa, Asia and Europe on over 20 projects, developing a real thirst for learning about diverse cultures and ways of living around the world. I would say that the most life changing moment of my journey was learning about Buddhism and practising meditation in Thailand. Whilst teaching English in a small school in the North-East, my host family took me to a local monastery and I ended up staying there for a week to live amongst forest monks practising ancient Theravada Buddhism, following their daily routine of meditation and eating only once a day at 8:00am. Following this I went on to complete a silent Vipassana meditation retreat for a week, which completely opened my mind and gave me the self-confidence I was previously lacking to step out of my comfort zone in policing and become whatever I wanted. This experience is what gave me the drive to align my true passions and create Flipping Youth.
Looking back on the first time you came across the ‘Ja Skate’ video, what were your first reactions when watching and what pulled you towards Jamaica as a location?
For Flipping Youth’s first project, I decided that I wanted to build a skatepark where the need was greatest based on three criteria, a serious problem with gangs and youth violence, no skateparks in the country, but an existing skate community in order for the project to be sustainable. After carrying out research, my initial shortlist was Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica, all hitting the criteria and all sadly being in the top 5 for highest homicide rates globally. It was then that I found the ‘Ja Skate’ video, featuring a group of skaters from Jamaica expressing their love for skateboarding and desire for a skatepark on the island. The video ends tragically, with news of the main character Andre “Wildfiyah” Thompson being stabbed to death just days after the interview was recorded. The video tore my heart out, it embodied everything that I was searching for in a project Flipping Youth and immediately after watching the video for the first time, I made a commitment that I would build a skatepark in Kingston and it would be dedicated to Wildfiyah.
With such a big project on the horizon, what were the first steps you took to creating the project and did it ever feel like too much?
After deciding that Jamaica was the one back in 2016, I saved up some cash, bought a ticket to Jamaica and headed out to Kingston to begin the process of learning about the local culture and history of skateboarding on the island. I spent a few months living at Jamnesia, a family-run surf camp on the outskirts of East Kingston, which is also the birthplace of the Jamaican skateboarding scene. I began meeting with government officials, looking for land and trying to figure out how I could get the project funded. There have been many ups and downs, setbacks and lulls in progress, so maintaining resilience has been so important, particularly when facing the challenge of people trying to take over and monetise the project, casting aside the charitable nature of our goals. I’ve always had to work on Flipping Youth as my 5-9 outside of my day job, so sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day, particularly when running our recent Kickstarter campaign, very stressful!
“The creation of the Youth Centre concept was fundamental in ensuring that the skatepark is managed effectively and feels safe for young people to enjoy freely.”
You have received funding from the likes of The Skateroom, Seprod Foundation, Sandals Foundation, Supreme New York and Sole DXB which have helped boost the project. How did you go about getting them on board and what kind of feedback have been hearing?
Securing funding has been probably the largest challenge to date, it took a long time and involved writing hundreds of proposals and networking wherever possible to try and get introduced to people in the industry. We secured the support of our partners through many different ways, with only two donors coming from a “cold-call” proposal without an introduction, which were the Sandals Foundation and Sole DXB. The Concrete Jungle Foundation brought The Skateroom on board and our partner in Jamaica Kevin Bourke on Tmrw.Tday festival brought the Seprod Foundation.
Supreme was a fantastic story, during my current role working for the Prince’s Trust, I was hosting a panel talk for the first official Stephen Lawrence day in London last year and mentioned my work on the Jamaica skatepark project. Stephen Lawrence’s cousin Mat was present and approached me afterwards to offer support, given that the Lawrence family all have their roots in Jamaica. Mat happened to be friends with Jagger at the London Supreme store and gave us the invaluable intro. Vans were fundamental in our Kickstarter campaign success and my access to Vans was through a friend, an ex-pro skater from back in the 1990’s, Mirko Mangum, so all in all there have been many people that have kindly contributed towards us finally reaching our fundraising goal.
In 2017, Jamaica opened its first skateboard shop, ‘Skateboard Palace’, which has only shown the need for a park even more, with large crowds and an ever growing community. How much have you had to do with local businesses and have you thought about how you get them more involved?
Skateboard Palace was the first point of contact for me in Jamaica, but we were unable to progress into a working partnership, largely because our core values and vision for this skatepark were not aligned. We are hoping that the Freedom Skatepark will develop to a point where the local skate community can create their own branding and produce skate decks to be sold onsite. We have very much been involved with local businesses, with the heads of Sandals and Seprod Foundations both active members of our steering committee, they are far more than just donors. They are both huge corporate entities so their network has opened many doors for us throughout this planning phase.
We have been able to gain discounts from our steel supplier, concrete supplier and have fees waived due to people warming to the charitable aims of our project. The local sure camp Jamnesia has also been very supportive from the beginning, offering discount room rates and advising on our committee. We are building alongside the local library, so community consultation has been key, including having the President of the Harbour View Citizens Association on our committee. In order to make the partnership fair and equal, we have created a locally registered organisation, the Freedom Skatepark Foundation, with committee members sitting as directors so all decisions are made taking into account everyone’s standpoint.
The idea of providing an alternative “safe space” for young people in Jamaica is one of your biggest priorities. How do you foresee this happening with the skatepark and what things need to happen to ensure this?
The creation of the Youth Centre concept was fundamental in ensuring that the skatepark is managed effectively and feels safe for young people to enjoy freely. Crime rates are high in Kingston and we wouldn’t want the skatepark to become a place where young people could be victimised, so we will employ members of the local skate community to work as full-time daily operations managers and ensure that the facility is maintained and used correctly. We also thought that it was necessary for someone to be on hand to guide beginners and loan equipment, as for the majority this is still a very new sport in Jamaica. The local police station also backs onto our plot, so we are hoping that having connections established in the local area will protect our space and make it accessible to families and individuals who may be lacking in confidence.
“The Jamaican skateboard scene replicates elements commonly shared in skate culture globally, that of counterculture and a longing for personal expression outside of the mainstream.”
While it seems a key message is to get young men involved in skateboarding as a deterrent from crime, how do you think Freedom Park could help with getting more girls or young people with SEND into a physical activity like skateboarding?
In an effort to ensure that the skatepark is accessible to young women, we have engaged the expertise of local surfer Imani Wilmot, who has pioneered women’s surfing in Jamaica over the past years and created the island’s first women’s surf competition. She uses surfing as a form of therapy to support and empower women, a methodology we are planning to replicate within our skatepark programming. Alongside her work with women, Imani also runs a Surfing for Autism programme through the family surf camp at Jamnesia, which provides free of charge surfing workshops for autistic children. Imani has recently delivered a Ted Talk in Trinidad and Tobago on her work and we are proud to have her on our advisory committee.
By having permanent full-time staff working at the skatepark who will be trained skateboard coaches, alongside a heap of donated skate equipment, we plan to deliver regular free skate workshops for under-represented groups, which will include young women and those living with disabilities. The Prince’s Trust International launched in Jamaica last year and are now working in schools across Kingston and in Harbour View closeby to the skatepark. Their Achieve programme focuses on reducing school dropouts and supporting those who are struggling to engage with their education. In my day job, I manage these programmes and hope to connect students on the Achieve programme with the opportunity to access activities at the skatepark and learn through a more engaging and interactive environment.
How much have you linked up the Sk876 collective as they are big on creating DIY parks and have also been campaigning for a skatepark as well?
The Sk876 crew are at the core of our project, they are the skaters who have inspired me as I spent time observing them struggle to find some smooth concrete around Kingston and slowly build up the awesome DIY park. When I was there in 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck the island and completely filled the DIY gully park with water, which resulted in us spending hours digging out a trench to drain the water so it could be skated again.
Ivah Wilmot and Shama Beckford are the two skaters who have led the creation of the DIY gully park and they will be at the forefront of the Freedom Skatepark, with Ivah sitting on our committee and representing Sk876 at our meetings. We plan to honour their dedication and pay homage to the years of commitment towards skateboarding development by prioritising our recruitment for paid positions within their collective.
Talking of the local scene, what would say are the main elements that make up the fabric of the Jamaican skateboarding scene?
The Jamaican skateboard scene replicates elements commonly shared in skate culture globally, that of counterculture and a longing for personal expression outside of the mainstream, but this is further exacerbated by the limited access to places to skate, meaning that most Jamaican’s don’t even realise there are any skaters at all on the island. The gully DIY spot is tucked away out of sight on a back street in an abandoned sewage drain and the second most popular spot is dodging security guards on the University of West Indies campus in North-East Kingston. A group from ALIS skate shop in Denmark recently built a huge DIY bowl on the East coast in Boston Bay, which had an existing community of BMX and skaters, so it’s nice to see that other hubs of action sports enthusiasts on the island are being served with the provision of skatepark facilities.
With the park looking to become an integral part of the local community, how much have you done in gathering local feedback and input? Are they excited for the park/do they have any reservations?
Aside from the usual worries you have everywhere about noise and anti-social behaviour, the general consensus is a feeling of excitement at the opportunity for Jamaican’s to develop at this new and exciting sport that has recently been announced as part of the next Olympics. This was crucial in getting buy-in locally, as Jamaicans love competition and have a habit of being very successful at anything they put their mind to. Our local MP is also the Prime Minister’s wife, Juliet Holness, so it has been helpful to have her supporting our cause and liaising with the local government on our behalf. The Seprod Foundation have also supplied us with a Community Engagement Officer to act as a point of contact and liaison for local people to ask questions and make suggestions about the development.
Since starting, what do you think has been your biggest barriers you have had to overcome – both personally and as a project as well?
Being patient has been the most important part of this journey. A professional skatepark builder who recently built Barbados’s first skatepark told me that the average skatepark in the US takes 3 years from initial concept to completion, but the Barbados project took 5 years! So working in a new environment comes with its unique challenges and unsurprisingly adds time to the planning. We have witnessed things go downhill for others pretty quickly when all of the correct paperwork and planning wasn’t in place, so we have taken our time to build a solid foundation and ensure that this project will be sustainable and have the impact that we desire.
Fundraising was extremely difficult, with Jamaica being classed as a middle-income country and sometimes people’s perception of the Caribbean can be swayed by the images of palm trees, white sand beaches and luxury resorts. The skateboarding industry is not particularly cash rich and most international grants and UK funding sources are focussed on humanitarian or disaster relief, so finding the right project partners who believed in our vision took a long time. Personally I had to be very resilient, as it has often felt like I was getting nowhere, so I’ve gone through many periods of feeling very low, but I would always pick myself up and listen to the encouraging words of my wonderful fiancee, who would give me the boost I needed to keep going.
“Our project is designed to be an accessible platform for all young people to express themselves creatively, mix socially in a non-judgemental environment and help develop a true sense of self identity.”
Tell me more about Edu-skate, an educational programme you hope to offer at the local community hub?
We are very lucky to be partnered with the Concrete Jungle Foundation, a fantastic skateboarding focussed NGO made up of a group of four experienced skatepark builders and skate programme specialists from across Europe. After successfully completing projects in Peru and Angola, we have now teamed up to take on Jamaica together. What makes the work of CJF unique is their focus on integrating education into their projects through their self-designed Edu-Skate programme.
Edu-Skate is a sports-based health intervention, aiming at stimulating personal development through skateboarding. In other words: valuable life education through the fun of skateboarding! The goal is to empower the children we work with by providing them with the tools to develop themselves into self-motivated and mentally healthy adults, in order to be agents of change in their lives and communities instead of victims of their circ*mstances.
While it looks unclear if Jamaican skateboarders Tafari Whitter and Jafin Garvey will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – what do you hope for Jamaica’s Olympic dreams in the future with an actual, physical park in place?
Jamaica competing at the Olympics one day would be an absolutely fantastic achievement, particularly if the athlete had learnt to skate in Jamaica, but it is not something we shall be focussing our efforts on in the near future. Our project is designed to be an accessible platform for all young people to express themselves creatively, mix socially in a non-judgemental environment and help develop a true sense of self identity. We hope young people will use this space to create meaningful friendships, stay healthy through engaging in physical activity and learn about the process of overcoming difficult challenges through practicing their tricks.
We are not currently working in partnership with the Jamaica Skateboard Federation, Jamaica Skateboarding Limited or the Jamaica Olympic Association, as we do not intend our skatepark to become a training ground for the elite with X-games sized obstacles, so for the time being we shall be focussed on increasing participation and providing a youth-led environment to serve the existing skate community. Of course we shall nurture the natural talent that I’m sure will emerge from the Freedom Skatepark and provide support to individuals who want to train towards Paris 2024 or LA 2028.
From watching Andre a number of years ago, to now having his mother on board with the project, what do you hope the long standing legacy of the Freedom skatepark to be?
Having Andre’s mother involved in the project is so special for us, given that he was the inspiration for me travelling to Jamaica in the first place. I actually failed to find her during my first trip, but luckily she found me whilst trawling the internet one evening as she dwelled on her son’s desire for growing skateboarding on the island through the construction of a skatepark. Lorraine has always wanted to do something about Andre’s dream, but felt powerless, so I am incredibly happy that she is now able to play an active role in our committee. It wasn’t until I met Lorraine in person that I discovered Andre had a 1-year old son when he was killed, so we are now also working with him to facilitate him following in his dads footsteps and become one of Jamaica’s top skateboarders.
Another amazing thing that happened after we had drawn up plans to incorporate youth entrepreneurship into the Freedom Skatepark through the inclusion of a Youth Centre, Lorraine showed me a video that Andre had made not long before his death, which was a proposal to NCB bank asking for funding to create a youth entrepreneurship programme to upskill under-privelaged youth in his local area through a social enterprise making themed merchandise that would help remove the stigma of education not being cool. For a man of 20 years old, Andre was a deep-thinking conscious leader who cared about social issues affecting young people in his community, and for those reasons we shall dedicate the Freedom Skatepark to Andre “Wildfiyah” Thompson and embody his character in the ethos of how we progress into the future.
