Derbyshire's Extreme Wheels youth scheme marks 25 years

Jonathan Tipton was a parks and open spaces officer for Bolsover District Council in 2001, when a colleague requested funding for a mobile skate park, following a huge surge in young people taking up BMX-riding and skateboarding, with no other facilities to accommodate them.

Following an initial investment of £500 for some ramps, the new addition was a huge hit.

Further funding from the government’s Single Regeneration Budget fund was allocated for the project - the first of its kind developed by a UK local authority - and the rest is history.

“That was the birth of Extreme Wheels,” says Jonathan.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Extreme Wheels Roadshows has gone on to work with over 250,000 young people locally and nationally – not only providing somewhere to go and something to do, but also helping to reduce the social nuisance and perception of anti-social behaviour and offering an alternative form of physical activity.

Extreme Wheels has travelled to internationally-renowned events, including at the home of Formula 1 racing, air shows and at Ride London as part of the London Marathon.

Councils up and down the country have invited the team to showcase their activities – over 400 clients include most of the local authorities in the East Midlands.

Today’s Extreme Wheels activities include BMX freestyle, skateboarding, BMX racing, drift trikes, Laser quest, Body Zorbing, KMX karts, mobile skatepark, pro rider demo shows, skatepark jams, inspirational and motivational talks and music jams, as well as bespoke programmes such as beer goggle-racing to demonstrate to young people the effects of alcohol.

There are even outreach sessions, and indoor youth hub provisions in the colder months.

Over 40 young people have also gone on to gain employment with Extreme Wheels over the years – three have continued to management level.

“We have engaged with young people who otherwise would not have engaged in other forms of physical activity or traditional services, or may think ‘I can’t do this as a job’,” says Jonathan, who is now Bolsover District Council’s Outdoor Recreation Officer.

“These young people are often labelled as ‘hard to reach’, but they are not hard to reach – there was just nothing that interested them.

“It’s how we use what we offer to engage these young people and get them in. We’ve worked for numerous Police and Crime Commissioners and Community Safety Partnerships, along with many more agencies, because they are seeing the hook of what we do.

“We are so unique in what we offer – other councils have tried to copy it, but only ours has stood the test of time.”

In 2024, Bolsover, the birthplace of Extreme Wheels, installed its iconic skatepark, which has since been credited with the town seeing a 60% drop in social nuisance and perceived anti-social behaviour.