The business at a glance
One in six New Zealanders - 17% of the population - live with a disability, yet mainstream physical activity and social participation routinely leave them behind. Disabled people aged 15 to 64 are employed at roughly half the rate of non-disabled people, compounding the financial hardship that already limits their access to sport, recreation, and community life.
All Skate Tauranga was created to open the door for this community. It’s a social enterprise that operates adaptive and therapeutic roller skating classes for people with disabilities and those facing financial hardship. It’s supported by founder Rachel Whitten’s business, Skatescool Tauranga, and delivered in partnership with organisations like Special Olympics, Parafed, and neurodivergence and mental health support providers.
All Skate is recently up and running with two full classes and growing demand. Now Rachel’s priority is building the business strategy and financial plan to make Skatescool’s profits reliably fund the community venture and position it for national scale. That’s exactly what our support this year will help her do.
Meet the project leader
Rachel Whitten holds a BSW (Honours) in Social Work from the University of Waikato and spent over four years as a Community Connector with Good Neighbour Aotearoa Trust before moving into social work with Whānau Āwhina Plunket. A lifelong roller skater, she founded All Skate Tauranga in 2025, combining her professional background with a passion for making skating accessible to everyone.
Meet our alumni
Want to see who we’ve supported in past years?
Find the full list of all founders we've worked with since our inception in pages 32–43 of our impact report.