<p>Hi there,&nbsp;</p>

<p>I think I have a couple ideas that could help out with your questions here.</p>

<p>If you have a surplus of gear you could consider holding a skate contest or demo event (could make it a BBQ for fun) and give out gear as prizes in the contest, as well as making up prize categories for everyone there, such as most likely to show up at the skatepark before noon, most tries before landing a trick, best old school trick, best style, most colour coordinated, loudest, quietest, etc. Then everyone gets some gear and has fun without feeling entitled or like a charity case.</p>

<p>In terms of not having control over the behaviour of older skaters that's a bit of a tricky one.&nbsp;You could focus on a few that are more confident or grounded natural leaders and have some conversations with them to set the norms. They can then help set the culture at the skatepark and help call out bad behaviour. You could also empower the kids with info to protect themselves and recognize bad behaviour.&nbsp;You can have informal conversations or go a more formal route of handing out informative pamphlets to the kids about what kind of behaviour is ok and not ok from adults around them and what to do if someone is out of line. Obviously needs to be done in the right way for them to be receptive to it, but I could imagine this actually catching on even if only in a joking way at first. It could get the groms talking about it at least. Here's an example from a guidebook we send home with our students, you could adapt/rework some of the messages for your context.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="guide for kids at skateistan" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1173708e-04cc-4a52-8c5c-cea5bb7a415b" height="281" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Screen%20Shot%202020-04-02%20at%205.03.20%20PM_0.png" width="456" /></p>

<p>- Talia</p>
