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a transition to charity

Have you considered an office team building exercise with a difference - one which may bring gasps of fear, shrieks of exhilaration and at the same time help an exciting youth charity?

Why not try climbing a cliff face, BMX biking, skateboarding down a ramp, or even challenge your colleagues to a game of two on two streetball – urban basketball?

Far from being a haven just for the extreme sports “hard core”, Transition Extreme at Aberdeen beach has, in three years, become a jewel in the crown of Aberdeen’s social and tourism scene and is going from strength to strength.

It offers an opportunity for corporate team building events or meetings in a unique atmosphere, or just a chance to have some fun.

Transition Extreme was the vision of Aberdonian, Neil Stevenson, an oil industry executive, whose children were introduced to skateboarding and snowboarding while he was working in America.

However on return to Aberdeen he discovered a lack of exciting, accessible facilities for young people and the chosen options for skateboarders were mainly car parks and other city centre buildings - but as the youngsters were moved on from venue to venue by officialdom the destinations were becoming less and less salubrious.

He decided to do something about it and ultimately left his job as a director with KCA Deutag Drilling to ensure his vision became a £2.7 million reality.

Two years and nine months after hatching his idea Transition Extreme opened and this month it celebrates its third birthday with plans under discussion for major expansion on an adjacent site.

Neil explained how the name is at the heart of everything which goes on inside the building off the Beach Boulevard where there was once disused tennis courts and a putting green.

It enables young and old to take part in extreme sports but it is also a vehicle for helping youngsters make the transition from childhood to adulthood while avoiding the pitfalls of “negative recreation” such as alcohol and substance abuse, vandalism and antisocial behaviour.

“Transition has always been about its charitable purpose but doing so in a very exciting, marketing led way which also delivers a flagship tourist attraction for Aberdeen, brings people into the city, rejuvenates the beach area, and helps the profile of other small businesses,” he said.

Neil’s realisation that there was a need for an extreme sports centre in Aberdeen coincided with a similar realisation by Aberdeen City Council and he was encouraged to go ahead and draw up a business plan by Councillor Jill Wisely and senior official Gordon McIntosh who shared his vision.

In July 2004 he began the business plan and two months later gave up his job to focus on the project. As the year ended the business plan was approved by the council and, with £1.25 million funding guaranteed, he knew then he would be able to build something.

2005 was devoted to securing the necessary planning permissions and raising the money required to make it one of the most exciting new community recreation centres in the UK.

By following some of the best practice approaches to business development he had learned in the oil industry, he did everything to the highest possible standard and ensured all stakeholders were onside by establishing close links with them.

He managed to get the police on board along with local schools and organisations like NHS Grampian and VisitScotland.

Scottish Enterprise Grampian, haven given £50,000 pump priming to take the project through the competitive tendering exercise, added a further £250,000 when they saw the potential for job creation, profiling other businesses, as a tourist attraction pulling people into the area and as a gateway for climbers and snowboarders to the Cairngorms.

Major companies like Apache North Sea, First Group, PSN, Shell UK, Stena Drilling and Talisman Energy – as well sportscotland and several charitable trusts – also saw the potential.

“That was critical to me,” said Neil, n a director with KCA Deutag Drilling.

“The fact that so many companies and individuals were prepared to contribute or ‘roll their sleeves up’ in fundraising efforts told me everyone was really buying into Aberdeen needing this facility.”

The result was the largest investment in youth facilities in the city in decades and Transition Extreme opened on April 14, 2007 and now attracts more than 170,000 users a year.

The skatepark has held several major events and drawn hundreds of visitors from Europe and America as well as from all over the UK.

Several travelling pro skate and BMX teams have visited the centre which has hosted the activitymix Corporate Decathlon Climbing Challenge and a major showcase event for Crimestoppers Scotland.

It has a thriving cafe, Simbiosis, and other tenants include Aberdeen Martial Arts Club and Boarderline.

“It is an environment in which a wide variety of ages and social backgrounds seem to coexist happily and all perceived barriers to participation seem to disappear,” said Neil.

“Talisman sponsored an extremely successful ‘Teenage Transition’ project which is now being repeated to assist one of the most problematic transitions for kids - from primary to secondary school.

“Some of those in first and second year who were struggling with school and possibly facing expulsion were taken in for a 12 week programme. For the first four weeks they came in once a week simply to try out everything and get involved but in week five they had to come together as team and, with a mentor, organise and execute a small business project.

“It meant they had to compromise, learn how to tolerate other people’s opinions and think of the links between what they were doing and school work.

“The programme, which was launched by actor and adventurer Charley Boorman, culminated in a major gala style fun day, Mission at Transition in which more than 200 took part and it blew everyone away.

“Lundin sponsored a very successful ‘Extreme Art School’ trying to get youngsters to understand the difference between vandalism and art.

“Our ‘Alternative Academy,’ currently underway in conjunction with RGU and Aberdeen College and funded by the Robertson Trust, is bringing in young people at risk of disengaging from mainstream education. They can try all the sports and then specialise in one of their choice and work towards an accredited sports coaching certificate, and for some it can lead to further education and employment.”

Transition’s efforts were recognised last year when Neil won the Ernst & Young Scottish title of Social Entrepreneur of the Year, a title he points out has come to the North-east in four out of the last seven years with Nick Baxter of Cornerstone (2003), Ken Milroy of The Foyer (2004) and Catriona McPhee-Smith of Inspire(2008) previous winners.

“The North-east really did come together to make this project happen and a diverse range of organisations bought into the multifaceted aspect of it, which is what I really think makes it a sustainable venture,” he said.

“Transition Extreme is a tourist attraction, a great family facility, great for corporate events but is, at its core, a charity helping young people.

“There are many opportunities to help the North-east’s young population fulfil their potential which companies can support or develop as part of their own corporate social responsibility objectives.

“The passion of those behind Transition is about doing things for young people, from the North-east. The gap between the haves and have-nots is still far too wide in Aberdeen and it is totally unacceptable.”