It’s been over a year now since Will Ascott and Ruby Mateja, friends thanks to SkatePal’s volunteer scheme in Palestine, decided to join forces to create a skateboarding aid project for refugees in Athens. As a point of first response in the European migrant crisis, Greece (and its capital more concentratedly) have amounted 65,000 refugees. Many of these are young people without adequate care or accommodation. Free Movement Skateboarding has spend the last fourteen months or so building a programme of sessions and events for these young people, and many others both native and foreign to Greece. In that time they’ve lived in houses flooded daily by tear gas, have had their van broken into, and Ruby’s torn her meniscus. But nothing has stopped them. And since today is World Refugee Day and tomorrow is Go Skateboarding Day, we thought we’d unearth an interview we did with Will right at the beginning of their journey. Perhaps it’ll inspire more of you to do as they have done; a little insight into what it takes to start a skate project like Free Movement.
Brother, how was the trip? You drove the entire way, right?
Yeah! It was eventful… We ran a couple of rad sessions in Italy, taught some great Gambian and Bangladeshi dudes in Turin and even headed south to Rome and taught a way bigger group there.
Unfortunately, our van got broken into and we lost a load of stuff, lots of Ruby’s personal bits and bobs and a very pricey camera…so that was crap. Luckily the back of the van remained secure and we didn’t lose as much as we might’ve done. All in all: a bit rubbish, but the sessions were great. We left a few boards we were donated with the guys we taught in Italy, and encouraged them to form links to the existing skate scenes through shops there.
How are you settling into Athens? What’s been going through your minds?
Unsurprisingly, it’s been hectic. It has been sick catching up with people again, but organisationally it’s been mad. We’ve had some amazing meetings with people, figuring out a few more specifics about how we’re going to be running the project here. Ministry of Concrete have been so supportive and I’m so excited to say that we’ll be working with them. Same with the other refugee projects we’ve spoken to. Just house hunting is a chore…
What do you expect to happen in the next few months?
We’ve got a lot planned. We’ll be working closely with this new project called The Refugee Youth Service to try and bring as many additional benefits to our sessions as possible. We need to work on relations with camps and squats carefully so we get access to these young people without stepping on the toes of other organisations. There has also been a lot of media interest so we need to figure out what we release, who with and when. It’s a crazy and exciting time!
What’s the master plan?
We’ll be here for a year at least, but the master plan changes daily. In the short term it’s all about partnering with local youth organisations, getting Greek skaters involved, refining our project delivery on a small scale before presenting it to camps and squats, and carefully working on relations with our peers. Long term, we want to repeat the model on a bigger scale across Europe, but we need to nail exactly what we offer and the challenges that present themselves here first.
What would you like to say to the local skate community? Or anybody wanting to get involved?
To the Athens skate community, I’d ask them to get involved as directly as possible, by teaching with us or getting Greek pals along to sessions to learn. Our project is all about integrating refugees and Greeks of all ages and genders through shredding. I just love the image of Greeks and refugees exploring their city together to skate new spots.
To everyone else, it’s a hard to start a project like this, but not as hard as you think. A clever ear to the ground when searching for funding bodies and real dedication can make all the difference. And what a way to spend your twenties…
