Epic achievement for Thame skateboarders

FIVE  young men from Thame, all pupils of Lord Williams’s school, arrived back in town today, after a road-trip of a very different kind.

Olly Ross, Aiden North, Will Green, Harry King and Zak Rostami (Not necessarily in that order!)

The group reached the town hall at around midday, to be welcomed by the Mayor of Thame, Peter Lambert, after a three day trip from Trafalgar Square to Thame, on skateboards and BMX bikes to raise funds towards the renovation of the local Skatepark.

Though wet and tired from their epic trip of over 50 miles in three days, the lads took the time to pose for pictures and to chat with well-wishers, before pedalling and scooting off home for a well-earned shower. They recalled how yesterday, they had passed the night trying to sleep through the biggest storm the country has seen for over a decade, in a hay barn in Princes Risborough.

The evening before had been the lowest point of the whole trip, when the lads had picked their way in the closing dusk, along badly surfaced lanes, near Denham, in order to get across to the other side of the M40 motorway. But the highlight of the whole trip, they all agreed, was the amazing, adrenalin-fuelled ride down the long hill in Princes Risborough.

There was hardly time though for one of the lads, Olly Ross, to rest because he was due to be interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford about their achievement, later this afternoon. Well-wishers on social media have showered the lads with congratulations all day, and Thame Round Table even issued an invitation on twitter for the lads to join ‘Santa’ on the Round Table’s annual Sleigh ride around Thame, to help with the fund-raising for the Skatepark.

The Thame Skatepark is well-used by hundreds of local young people of all ages, and this half-term week will see many of them gathering together to support and teach each other to skateboard, a facility that will no longer be safe soon for them to do so, unless enough money is raised to compliment a grant promised by Thame Town Council for a replacement.

If you would like to show your appreciation for this magnificent achievement, and contribute  to the lads’ growing fund, please visit their ‘Make-a-donation’ page: https://www.make-a-donation.org/charity/london-to-thame-fundraiser-skate