Chris van der Merwe, Inspired2Become
On Wednesday January 20, at about 11pm, the I2B Skatepark in Somerset West caught fire.
We rushed to the skatepark after receiving the news, only to find that our attempts to kill this raging fire would not nearly be good enough.
Minutes later the Fire Department arrived – unfortunately not in time to save the parts of the large ramp and shading net that were damaged.
The I2B Skatepark is one of the main projects of our NPO, Inspired2Become.
My brother, Fanie van der Merwe, and I started the organisation in 2010 – with the aim of doing youth development through sport.
Fanie, a paralympic athlete, focuses on athletics for people with disabilities, and I focus on alternative action sports (skateboarding, rollerblading and skimboarding).
As of the beginning of 2016, Inspired2 Become extended its focus areas to education, with my wife joining the team.
One of the aims of the I2B Skatepark project is to motivate youth to live more positive, active lifestyles.
We run a weekly club at the skatepark for local Helderberg youth and another club for children from the Brightlights safe house.
We also partner with the Pebbles Project – where we run a club for the children from the surrounding farms.
Other skate clubs that are run, include clubs in Strand, Gordons Bay, Macassar, Cloetesville, Kleinvlei, Belhar and Bonteheuwel.
Despite the fire disaster that happened at the skatepark, we are still full of hope.
We have currently started the rebuilding process of the park.
If you would like to support us and can contribute in any way, visit www.inspired2 become.org.
Thank you for everyone’s prayers and support up to now. Thank you also to Down to Earth for helping us with the shading net.
