Skateboarding made its Olympic debut as an optional sport in 2020, and it'll become a permanent fixture in 2028. But long before the Olympics caught on, skaters had already found their spot.
Back in the 1970s, London's South Bank was known for something other than tourists and river views: skateboarders, drawn to the smooth concrete and sloped walls of the Undercroft Skate Space. Decades later, an exhibit is celebrating that space — a hollowed-out concrete bowl with a cult following — through art, memorabilia, and film.
The Undercroft is where a generation of skaters learned the sport (safety gear very much included). But for years, this free public space faced a real threat: developers tried repeatedly to shut it down or move skaters elsewhere.
The skaters didn't budge. Their persistence paid off — the space was saved, renovated, and eventually celebrated as a landmark. Today, skaters and BMX riders of every age still roll through the Undercroft, part of a community it helped build.
Join Numberblock Fourteen at the skate park! Help Fourteen finish the doubles by tracing the numbers and filling in the gaps. Cut out Fourteen and his lucky Double Sevens and have fun whizzing them about the halfpipe ramps below.
Sing Fourteen's song:
I'm 14, I'm 10 and 4, I'm also double 7!
I'm riding on an elevator straight to skater heaven!
And whenever I get into a fix,
in the middle of one of my brand-new tricks,
I've got my lucky double to get me out of trouble...
Lucky double Seven!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
In Frontsiding to Help Others, host Radzi Chinyanganya introduces Sky Brown, a young skateboarder from California who is using her passion for skateboarding to make a difference in the lives of children, including Sokly, a girl in Cambodia. The video highlights how organizations like Skateistan, a non-governmental organization (NGO), use sports and education to improve the quality of life for children in underserved communities. Through Sky’s efforts, students see how hobbies can be a powerful tool for helping others and creating positive change. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.
Skateboarding made its Olympic debut as an optional sport in 2020, and it'll become a permanent fixture in 2028. But long before the Olympics caught on, skaters had already found their spot.
Back in the 1970s, London's South Bank was known for something other than tourists and river views: skateboarders, drawn to the smooth concrete and sloped walls of the Undercroft Skate Space. Decades later, an exhibit is celebrating that space — a hollowed-out concrete bowl with a cult following — through art, memorabilia, and film.
The Undercroft is where a generation of skaters learned the sport (safety gear very much included). But for years, this free public space faced a real threat: developers tried repeatedly to shut it down or move skaters elsewhere.
The skaters didn't budge. Their persistence paid off — the space was saved, renovated, and eventually celebrated as a landmark. Today, skaters and BMX riders of every age still roll through the Undercroft, part of a community it helped build.
Join Numberblock Fourteen at the skate park! Help Fourteen finish the doubles by tracing the numbers and filling in the gaps. Cut out Fourteen and his lucky Double Sevens and have fun whizzing them about the halfpipe ramps below.
Sing Fourteen's song:
I'm 14, I'm 10 and 4, I'm also double 7!
I'm riding on an elevator straight to skater heaven!
And whenever I get into a fix,
in the middle of one of my brand-new tricks,
I've got my lucky double to get me out of trouble...
Lucky double Seven!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
In Frontsiding to Help Others, host Radzi Chinyanganya introduces Sky Brown, a young skateboarder from California who is using her passion for skateboarding to make a difference in the lives of children, including Sokly, a girl in Cambodia. The video highlights how organizations like Skateistan, a non-governmental organization (NGO), use sports and education to improve the quality of life for children in underserved communities. Through Sky’s efforts, students see how hobbies can be a powerful tool for helping others and creating positive change. This video is excerpted from BBC’s My World, a program created for teenagers eager to learn more about the important stories shaping our world.