There are after-school clubs to burn off steam and have a snack. Programming for teens, dubbed “open trainings” with loose instruction from skateboarding gurus, takes place in the evenings.

Since its inception, the program has grown to accommodate hundreds of kids from the neighborhood, most of whom are ages 5 to 13.

That’s when I realized that this area needs a Skate the Foundry,” Brett said. That image and feeling really stuck with me. They were intimidated by it, so they didn’t have a chance to try. “There were so many children, and the biggest thing I noticed was that there so many girls and little kids that wanted to skate, but they were too afraid to go into the skate park. Brett provides safety lessons to a Cheltenham boy I was blown away by how many kids were walking around the area,” he said. We had a partnership with Cheltenham Township for a summer camp, and we realized how many kids were in the community. “We were doing outdoor programs at Wall Park. The organization’s main goal, he says, is to provide skateboarding lessons to children around town. Skate the Foundry’s Elkins Park location began in 2021 as an expansion of a West Philly location that’s been going strong since 2016. The facility houses a a skate shop and indoor skating area, and is open to all ages: young, old, and in between. Thanks to Skate the Foundry, a product of Brett’s vision, today’s Cheltenham youth have exactly that. “I always wanted to have a skate park as a child and as an adolescent.”

“I was there on their opening day roughly 20 years ago and still frequent there,” Brett said. Brett Williams, a 2005 graduate of Cheltenham High School, grew up in La Mott skateboarding at Wall Park.

Cheltenham township summer camp