Community Urban Sports Project in Swansea enables lift-off for hundreds of young people each year. As a community sport group, supported by Sported, it has grown since its inception 12 years ago into a hub of aerial tricks as well as a place where lives get off to a flying start.

Managed and run by Kate Leonard, CUSP operates the Exist Skatepark, the longest running indoor skatepark in Wales – and more than simply a place to skate or scoot.

“There’s such a lot involved in skateboarding that isn’t just the skate park,” Leonard says. “There’s an enormous amount of sub cultures that shoot off it.

“Because we’re not a team sport, we’re very much a community sport, so you can come alone, and you can leave with a gang of mates.”

And it’s this open-to-all, make-a-home-for-yourself dynamic that Leonard believes is the bedrock of Exist Skatepark and one of the reasons for its success.

“It’s a very hard sport to learn, but the rewards are really big when you get a trick,” she explains. “And when you do get a trick, that community that is around you watching go absolutely mad, because they know how hard that was.”

But that community isn’t limited to those on the ramps, it extends to those on the sides as well.

“What we’re doing is really important and really varied for a lot of different groups of the community,” Leonard continues.

“Single dads come and bring their kids, and this is a really good space for those guys to hang out,”

The community that Leonard talks so passionately about is one of the key drivers behind CUSP and all that they do at Exist, but also in local parks across the city with their free outdoor sessions.

These sessions are designed to help open eyes to the possibilities provided through the freedom a skill like skateboarding or scooting can bring.

“We’ve got a big red bus, and we go and deliver skate sessions out in the community,” she adds. “You come in, you get two hours with the coaches. It includes all the equipment, all the safety equipment, the board, everything. So we try and break down those cost barriers.

“Some of those kids have never even left that community and you’re like, ‘if you get a pair of wheels, you can go anywhere.’

“It’s really important to me that we reach the kids that can’t afford it and can’t afford to get on the bus to come to us. So it’s really important that we go to them.”

Part of Sported’s network of 5,000 sports clubs and community groups across the UK, CUSP’s bid for growth has been boosted by a volunteer with some tricks of her own.

Ravi Vedi, a Volunteer Consultant provided by Sported to inject business expertise, has helped Leonard to quantify the organisation’s impact and successes as they seek to access further funding to grow the impact they have.

“Ravi has totally boosted my confidence in what I provide,” Leonard shares. “Now I’m like, ‘what we’re doing is great’. I can apply for funding and I can get the funding and use that to enhance those areas that I’m working in.”

Exist Skatepark is Wales’ longest running indoor skate park and is run as a not-for-profit facility by CUSP. To find out more about them and their activities, visit their website: www.existskatepark.co.uk and follow their social media channels @existskatepark on Instagram and Facebook.

You can learn more about Sported and how they support grassroots sports clubs and community groups like CUSP online at www.sported.org.uk.

Sported is on the lookout for more Volunteer Consultants like Ravi to support their network in Wales and across the UK. If you’ve got a skill or experience to donate to, please click below on Apply now.