If you have kids who are very physical, it’s often a worry when they want to experiment. Jumps on skateboards, wheelies on bikes, or acting out their favourite parkour moves from films can lead to a visit to A&E. At Movement Park in Whiteinch, watch your children learn safely, gain confidence in their abilities… and have a whole lot of fun!
By Tracy Mukherjee
Life Skills Start at Movement Park…
Watching my two boys grow has been both a joy and a journey of trepidation. A trip to Kelvingrove Skatepark usually involves some snacks… plus an icepack. We want our kids to be outside, to grow in physical skills, but often, we don’t know how to marry the two.
Lifelong Physical and Mental Wellbeing
Movement Park in Whiteinch specialises in developing children’s physical literacy. The Glasgow-based charity does this through the power of play. Using urban sports such as parkour, BMX, and skateboarding, they help children and young people build the fundamental movement skills, confidence and creativity they need for lifelong health and wellbeing.
The charity was founded in 2017 in response to growing concerns that children and young people were becoming less active. The team at Movement Park believe that when young people learn to improve their movement skills through balance, climbing, boarding and cycling, they gain confidence, resilience, and a positive relationship with movement.
Why the need for a movement academy?
CEO Stephen Somerville spent many years as a judo coach. Stephen could see an increasing number of injuries among young athletes who had specialised in sport too early and didn’t have the range of movement required to support their skills. And so, Movement Park was born — a place where young people could learn the fundamentals of movement first. In doing so, developing in their chosen sports is done safely, reducing the risk of injury or burnout in the teenage years.
The movement programme is varied, running every day of the week with a whole range of activities. Classes are available from toddlers to teens — even through to adults. With girls-only sessions delivered by female coaches, no child should feel self-conscious developing their skills. An adaptive sports programme for children and young people with physical, sensory and learning difficulties is also available. The programme provides tailored sessions that are inclusive, playful and focused on building movement confidence. And with a hugely positive effect on mental health and positive self-esteem for all young people, it’s a win-win.
National BMX Championship
Such is the reputation of Movement Park, that they are playing host to the National BMX Championship in May. This is a huge achievement for the guys, who at the beginning of 2025 had only a small cycling programme. In partnership with Scottish Cycling, their ‘Rock Up and Ride’ programme took off, seeing a huge growth in the demand for cycling programmes in their movement community and the wider community as a whole.
Now, the cycling sessions take place at the fabulous Knightswood BMX Track. The track is Olympic-standard and is part of the Glasgow Life Sports facilities. The cycling programme covers the little ones moving from balance bike to pedalling and all the way to BMX skills. Their youth racing team, the BMX Bandits, are a huge success story and have hosted three regional BMX races at Knightswood. Next? Round three and four of the Lloyds National BMX Race Series in May.
The Championship weekend is completely free to spectators. BMX racing, if you haven’t witnessed it before, is full of jumps, excitement and loads of fun to watch. You might even have an aspiring BMX Bandit with you in the audience.
Centre of the Community
With two further events planned at the Riverside Museum this year, Movement Park continues its mission to bring movement to the masses. With free skateboarding lessons taking place at the museum in March, an Urban Sports Festival is planned for September. There is also a BMX Festival coming to the Glasgow BMX Centre later in the year, giving those who attended the Championships a chance to have a go themselves.
With so many events taking shape, it’s fair to say Movement Park is putting their ‘movement’ where their mouth is. Get in touch and start the movement journey.
To find out more about physical activities for kids in Glasgow, visit –
Movement Park
Clydeway House, 813 South St, G14 0BX
w:movementpark.org.uk
@movement_park
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