For the first time in my life I get an insight view of the poetry of skateboarding. Skating means to make impossible dreams possible, that's what Jack from Uganda told me. He is now 40 years old and can still remember when he saw the first skateboard of his life. How he tried desperately to make friends with the owner. How he built the first skate park in Uganda and that the authorities had no idea what he was up to. How he shared his first skateboard with others until he could hardly ride it himself...

Today, a lot of topics are addressed and new goals are worked on: coordination in the skate parks, storage options for the boards, networking with authorities and partners, planning new skate parks, composition of various surfaces in the parks, drainage, team building, living situation of the volunteers and much more. Even in the evening you can still feel the energy of the day...

„I’m on the plane from Frankfurt to Namibia. It’s my first trip to Africa with skate-aid and I am full of anticipation. Above all, I’m looking forward to meet the kids, who are primarily hearing and visually impaired in this special project and who want to skate with the skate-aid crew...

With 60kg (!) of skateboard stuff in his luggage, project manager Tobi made his way to Syria last week. Incidentally, this is still the only way for us to provide our workshops in Qudsaya / Damascus with the necessary material. Due to the political situation, it’s not possible to send packages to Syria or to fly directly to Syria. The entry was only achievable through Lebanon and with help of good contacts of our project partner, the SOS Children's Villages.

We got real big plans for this year and will stay true to our motto: WE EMPOWER KIDS!

To get in the mood, we start with some memories of our trip to Rwanda, including TV presenter André Gatzke and comedian Simon Gosejohann. A film by Krolop & Gerst supported by Nikon. Many thanks to Vans, Independent Trucks, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Creature Skateboards, TSG INTERNATIONAL and all the other partners for supporting our worldwide projects!

We also would like to give out another big thank you to ALL the donors would so generously supported us last year. Thanks to you we’ll be moving a lot. So stay tuned!!!

On the November23rd the C & A skate-aid-night supported by innogy took place at the Skaters Palace in Münster.

For the 14th time host and skate-aid founder Titus Dittmann invited under the motto "celebrate and support". to this awesome charity event. More than 280 invited guests and celebrities from all over Germany experienced an entertaining and moving night. A great atmosphere, a thrilling show and music program and of course the wonderful success stories from the skate-aid projects contributed to a unique gala. From the raffle and "Silent Auction” to the “Hall Auction”…there were a lot of opportunity to do good and in the end the amazing amount of around € 70,000 came together for skate-aid!

We got real big plans for this year and will stay true to our motto: WE EMPOWER KIDS!

To get in the mood, we start with some memories of our trip to Rwanda, including TV presenter André Gatzke and comedian Simon Gosejohann. A film by Krolop & Gerst supported by Nikon. Many thanks to Vans, Independent Trucks, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Creature Skateboards, TSG INTERNATIONAL and all the other partners for supporting our worldwide projects!

We also would like to give out another big thank you to ALL the donors would so generously supported us last year. Thanks to you we’ll be moving a lot. So stay tuned!!!

The skate-aid team was on a renovation mission in Kigali/Rwanda. Our skate park there needed a "make-over". As a special highlight we had prominent support: TV presenter André Gatzke and comedian Simon Gosejohann were there with us and actively helped. In addition, the Krolop & Gerst video crew was on bord and we’re looking forward to breathtaking shots as usual.

Da es im skate-aid Skatepark in Kampala/Uganda geographisch bedingt sehr schnell und früh dunkel wird, fällt die perfekte Zeit zum Skaten zwischen Tageshitze und Nachtschwärze extrem kurz aus. Daher haben unsere Freunde von Taiyo Hive die Licht-Solaranlage auf 4 Lampen verdoppelt, damit der Skatepark von den Kids effektiver genutzt werden. Vielen Dank an Sophie und ihr Team, sowie an Jack und sein Team!

On Monday it was time: The skate park in Qudsaya near Damascus, which was built by skate-aid in cooperation with the SOS Children's Villages, was officially opened.
skate-aid and SOS Children's Villages worldwide are using the educational power of skateboarding in worldwide skate park projects to support kids in their personality development and to empower them. After successful joint projects in Kigali (Rwanda) and Bethlehem (Palestine), another lighthouse project was opened with this first skate park in Syria.
"Especially in civil war-stricken Syria, skateboarding can help young people to regain their courage, self-esteem and perspective and to overcome the traumatic experiences of violence and escape," explains Dittmann the intention behind the project. Both organizations planned it for two years and finally realized it in spring of 2019. "Our approaches to provide support and security to traumatized kids and teenagers complement each other very well," says Dr. Wilfried Vyslozil, CEO of SOS Children's Villages worldwide. "The joint project will hopefully find many imitators in Syria."
The new skate park in Qudsaya, on the outskirts of Damascus, is an open place of integration and encounter that will hopefully bring together all population groups and does some peace work in this country.