How a skateboarding challenge transformed my mental health

Haringey resident Glenn Chapman is about to complete his mission to perform three skateboarding tricks in every London postcode area

On 6th January 2018 I decided to go for a skate in freezing cold at the skatepark in Lordship Lane Recreation Ground.

It was a quick half-hour session that warmed both body and mind. I had recently gone through a bereavement and a breakup and this was the first time I had left the house to do something I enjoyed.

That half-hour was just the spark I needed. Over the next months and years my skate sessions became videos, and with each new video came new ideas — which finally culminated in the ‘London Postcode Challenge’.

The challenge is simple — land three skateboard tricks in each London postcode. For every five postcodes completed I donate £5 to the Ben Raemers Foundation, a charity set up in memory of professional skateboarder Ben Raemers who died by suicide in 2019.

The foundation supports mental health in skateboarding. What started as a personal donation has since blossomed into a JustGiving page where I have managed to raise £600 towards the foundation.

Haringey has nurtured me throughout this journey. Lordship Lane Recreation Ground in N17 gave me somewhere to feel like myself again. Also in N17, I met Stu from local skate brand Lovenskate and we talked about mental health and how skating with your mates helps.

In N15, I skated The Spot — a skatepark where Ben Raemers himself skated and produced footage that meant a great deal to me personally.

In N8, I recreated the route from the famous Shaun of the Dead scene on my skateboard, and did a pressure flip outside Hornsey Town Hall — where Queen once performed — in a deliberate nod to Under Pressure.

My final Haringey postcode will be N4, as Finsbury Park Skatepark and the nearby basketball courts, where I go to keep my old bones in check and ready for the next mission.

I hope that in my own small way this project helps break the stigma around mental health. Some people might see an old guy flipping his board around the borough at the crack of dawn and wonder what on earth he’s doing — but this is what makes me happy, and I hope it encourages others to find their own thing that does the same.

The enjoyment comes from the whole process — getting up early before work or heading out at the weekend to film a postcode, learning about each borough along the way, from Queen performing at Hornsey Town Hall to meeting Stu at Lovenskate, and the sense of satisfaction when each postcode is done.

That first skate on a cold winter’s day in Haringey led to the creation of a library of postcode videos — and that gives me a warm glow of achievement. I hope people can watch them and find their own freezing cold skatepark eureka moment.

Follow Glenn Chapman on Instagram and YouTube.

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