By James Wild

It was a big Hampshire get-together for skateboarders of all ages.

Organised by Winchester skateboard shop Beans and Boards, it was the first Skatejam of the year and held at the River Park skate park next to the River Park Leisure Centre, in Winchester.

Kyle Judge, 32, co-owner of Beans and Boards said: “It was a great day. The day was about bring the local community together. Skateboarding breaks down barriers of gender, age, and race. There were students, older working people, everybody from five to forty-five with parents and spectators.”

He added: “It’s great exercise. That’s why it’s going to be an Olympic sport at the next Olympics.”

As well as skateboarding there was a raffle to raise funds for the charity Skate-aid. The charity support children and young people in areas of conflict and deprivation by bringing skateboarding to their communities.

It was the third Skatejam in Winchester that Beans and Boards had organised and they aim to put on more throughout the year. The next one will be the first birthday of Beans and Boards on July 18.

Kyle said: “There is a big skateboard community throughout Hampshire. There are two brand new skate parks in Winchester. Riverside Park is three years old and Somers Close Skatepark was only finished last year. Southampton has a massive skater community but nowhere to do it. A lot of Southampton skateboarders were at the Skatejam. There should be more facilities in Southampton for skateboarders.”

Kyle has said that film of the day will go up online on Youtube and on Pixelstv.com which is a UK wide forum for skateboarders.