The new leaders of Thornton’s Church of Christ will host a free skate and music festival, called Shred Sk8 Festival, on April 11 during Youth Week.
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The event will feature a skate clinic by Newcastle Skate, a freestyle competition and live music from Shane Kennedy of UP&UP and DJs from Newcastle Scratch Academy.
The aim of the event is to encourage the community to restore the dilapidated skate park and raise awareness of youth homelessness.
Pastor Damien Parks and his wife Suzanne moved to Thornton at the start of the year to lead the church and were surprised at the lack of community infrastructure and events.
“The problem is particularly bad for young people – there are no cafes or pubs or shopping areas,” Mrs Parks said.
“Once the kids can drive, they leave – unless we devise a way to keep them interested in participating in their community.”
The couple decided to solve the problems in their own backyard first.
They turned their attention to the graffiti-covered skatepark that backs onto the church.
“It seems the skate park was once home to a bad element, but the kids here now are beautiful and courteous and they’ve just inherited this less-than beautiful park.”
The Parks decided to start a community conversation to highlight demand for the restoration. They launched a community outreach campaign called #Community@TCOC and organised the festival.
“We also like the idea of passing the hat around and raising money for Y Foundations, a group that deals with youth homelessness,” Mrs Parks said.
“The group we’re trying to help here, teenage boys, are statistically more prone to mental health issues, homelessness, truancy, drug use. We want to turn the skate park into the heart of a healthy community,” she said.