What was the Honey Island Roller Lab?
The Honey Island Roller Lab project ran during 2022-2023 and brought roller skating to marginalised communities around the Maltese Islands. Although the project is over, you can read about it here.
Three little words: community, inclusivity, and sport. They’re at the heart of what we aim to do at Honey Island Rollers, so when the opportunity arose to spread the love, we were all over it in a heartbeat. In 2021, we put our heads together and applied for the Small Initiatives Scheme funding as a voluntary organisation with the aim to hold skating classes for marginalised communities across Malta and Gozo.
…And so the Honey Island Roller Lab was born! As part of this exciting project, we held monthly skate class and a monthly community skating event. And we got so many people rolling!
Roller Skating Classes
Over roughly a year, we collaborated with local organisations to offer free roller skating classes all over Malta to parts of the community that might not have had the opportunity to try the sport alone.
Roller skating is great exercise, it’s loads of fun, and once you’ve actually got your skates, it doesn’t necessarily require a boatload of expensive memberships and fees. Still, it’s hard to decide whether it’s really the sport for you if you haven’t had the chance to try it – that’s where we come in!
Our monthly skate classes offer beginners the chance to learn the basics like stopping, falling safely, and skating backwards. Best of all, our volunteer skating instructors are passionate and ready to spread their love of the sport with others!
Want to put together a class? Get in touch with us here.
Community Skate
Some people weren’t up for a class, but they did want to meet up and skate. We also held a monthly public roller skating get-together, open to everyone! Participants from our skate classes were particularly encouraged to join in and use their new skills in a relaxed social setting. We met up at the Msida Skate Park and other skateable locations in Malta.
Sponsors
The Honey Island Roller Lab was a year-long project held over 2022-2023 that was made possible thanks to a grant awarded by the Small Initiative Scheme. Our sponsors at Roller Derby House worked together with us to source equipment for the project. We would also like to thank Browns Pharmacy for providing first aid kits.
This project has been funded by the Small Initiatives Support Scheme (SIS) managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS).
This project reflects the views only of the author, and the MCVS cannot be held responsible for the content or any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
