Choose the park that needs the most help for your neighborhood. The right park is one that fixes an existing problem and inspires others to get involved. Community cleanup projects can come in many forms:

• Trash and litter collection (this is the easiest form on clean up to arrange)
• Beautification projects (you will need to contact local businesses for donations and council approval for this to happen)
• Graffiti removal (you will need to contact local businesses for donations and council approval for this to happen)

When choosing a date for your community cleanup project, keep in mind what you would like to achieve, if the work you would like to do needs council approval, or donations from businesses, you will need to factor this into the project timeline.

To start off you will need a flyer, you can create your own or we are happy for you to use our template, just email info@betterbearings.com.au your date, your park name and address and time of event and we will email you back a .pdf of the flyer you can print and a jpeg you can post online. If you would like to use your own park image please also send that through. We are also happy to host your event on our website and volunteer sign up form. We will make a special page dedicated to you and will market your event too.

Ways you can market your clean up

• Make a facebook event
• Share it on social media
• Make a video about what you are trying to achieve and share on social media
• Talk to local skaters and put flyers up
• Contact local Chicks in Bowls Chapters, Roller Derby Leagues, Skate Shops and anyone that you think may want to be involved
• Press - write to local papers and let them know what you are doing for the community (we have a template you can utilize)
• Notify your council and see if they will help spread the word.
• Use #betterbearingsbetterparks for all your online posts as like minded community members who follow this will help promote and support your event.

The more press that gets involved the more successful your event will be. You can access our press release template and our contact your local council template when you nominate your park below.

Once you’ve chosen which skate park and what you would like to do to clean it up, it’s important to make a specific plan for the event.

Your plan should include:

• Date and possible rain date
• Meeting location with access to restrooms for volunteers
• Number of volunteers needed and initiatives to recruit them
• Outline of all the work to be completed before the event and the day of
• List of supplies you will need for your specific project (including a first aid kit) and how you will source them
• List of required permits or licenses needed (if any)
• Schedule of events for the day of your community cleanup (see our template here)
• Post-event steps (how to dispose of your rubbish etc)
• Nominate someone with a current first aid certificate to be your first aid offer at your event
• A plan on how to dispose of hazardous waste like needles (we can supply this too)

This detailed plan will help you organize a neighborhood cleanup that is efficient and fun. We will send you a detailed event plan template and a dispose of hazardous waste template when you sign up your park below.

Your skate park cleanup needs a project coordinator to be the go-to-person for all planning needs. The leader of the event should also have a team or committee of people they can delegate parts of the plan to. Our suggestion is grab a couple of skate friends who are also want to be involved in the clean up and go through this guide together. Delegate jobs so each of you can do your part and it's not too much for just one person. You will also need a first aid officer to be in charge of first aid and event safety.

Cleaning up a community skate park is reliant on volunteers.

Begin recruiting efforts a month or more before the event to make sure you have enough support. Use different methods to reach a wide audience:

• Tell local skate groups who use the park, local CIB chapters, roller derby clubs, skate shops, skate supply companies, and tell us!!!! We want to make your event as successful as we can.
• Other people to consider enlisting help is , friends, community members, local businesses, churches and other organizations about your event.
• You can pin your flyers up at your local park, community notice boards, send to roller derby leagues etc. Make sure you flyers get taken down again after the event.
• Promote the event on social media (tag us). Ask neighborhood organizations to promote the event in newsletters. Add the event to online community event calendars.

When recruiting volunteers, ask volunteers to sign up so you know who is coming and how much more recruiting you need to do. Keep in mind that volunteers may sign up but not show up on the day of the event, so recruit more volunteers than you need.

Send a reminder to those who have signed up a few days before the event. Make sure to include any relevant information about parking, volunteer check-in and policies/waivers. Also, make sure to thank them ahead of time and give them a shout out on social media.

Types of supplies for skate park cleanup:

• Trash bags - If you can use biodegradable ones all the better
• Gloves
• First Aid Kit
• Shovels
• Rakes
• Graffiti remover (only if you are planning a beautification event)
• Paint and paintbrushes (only if you are planning a beautification event)
• Wheelbarrows (only if you are planning a beautification event)
• Gardening materials, like plants and mulch (only if you are planning a beautification event)

You will also need to bring the waiver forms (we will provide these), and pens for people to sign up. If it is hot bring sunscreen and ask people to wear hats and bring water. depending on how you would like to reward your volunteers you may need to bring supplies for that.

Depending on what your park needs will depend on your rubbish removal plan. You will need to find your nearest dump or recycling centre to take the debris away.

Things you may need to consider;

• Is there an old mattress oro any bulky items that needs removing, if so how will you transport it and where will you dispose of it?
• Are there needles and how do we dispose of them safely or who do we call
• Where will you take all the litter?

Give your volunteers something to look forward to and to say thank you. Now the park is clean you should all have a skate and enjoy it

Ideas on how to reward your volunteers are;

• Feed them lunch
• Take a group photo and give each person a tag and shout out on social media. tag #betterbearingsbetterparks and we will also give them a shout out
• Put on a skate workshop or event (we can ask our team skaters to come along if they are local) or ask your local skate shop and or clubs to help run this as their way of sponsoring the event.
• Give prizes (Better Bearings is happy to donate some prizes for your event) ask your other sponsors for some prizes too.

So there you have it, we are here to support your clean up as much as possible, please let us know if you have thought of other great ways to clean up our skate parks and we will update this guide. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Once you nominate your park below we will be in touch to give you access to the following assets;

• Flyers (with your skate park name, date, sponsors logos etc)
• Waivers
• A risk management plan
• Press releases
• Contacting your council templates
• Social media assets
• How to run the event - run sheet
• How to dispose of the rubbish
• How to safely dispose of Hazardous items
• How to contact local businesses for sponsorship
• We will host your event on our website, you will have your own dedicated event page for your volunteers to sign up to.
• Prizes for your event
• If possible we will send a Better Bearings Team skater (or try and organise someone from your local skate shop) to help run a free workshop or similar

On a personal note, I would like to thank you for signing up to the Better Parks Initiative and hope that together we can make a Better world for us to all live in and enjoy.

Kerryn 

Better Bearings

To Register Your Skate Park For Clean Up Send Us An Email at info@betterbearings.com.au