About Us

My name is Asha Kirkby. I am an expert inline skating instructor and my skate school and my series of online courses are the result of teaching full-time since founding Skatefresh in 2000.

I found my first pair of skates (rainbow quads) aged 10 on the street in a rubbish bin . They fitted perfectly. I skated home, almost falling on the kerb descent before quickly discovering that bent knees worked much better. Soon after I went to a roller disco and was “discovered” by my future artistic skating coach and began figure skating on quads. Two years later I won the British under 14 National Championships. I competed throughout my teens, representing Great Britain in several international competitions.

I gave up competitive skating at 18 and went to Brazil on a gap year before starting university in Edinburgh. In my 20s I had a few office jobs in London but was very unhappy so I left work for what I thought was a temporary few months off to rest and regroup. During that time I bought a pair of rollerblades and started skating for fun and fitness and at the suggestions of a skating friend, did the ICP (Inline Certification Program) to become an instructor.

Based in Brighton, UK, I teach group classes and private lessons in London, Brighton, and Europe (when travel restrictions allow). I also teach clients worldwide via online video coaching.

I’ve been certifying Instructors for ICP since 2002 and I’ve certified more than 300 instructors in the UK, Spain and Brazil. I speak Spanish and Portuguese fluently.

Between November 2018 and June 2019 I completed a “World Teaching Tour” which included Uganda, Dubai, Singapore, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and the USA.

I’ve worked for the BBC and Disney as a skate consultant, judge and coach. For Disney I trained the main actors in “Soy Luna”. This included a 2 week intensive boot camp in Argentina and ongoing video coaching for a year. They went from zero to experts and then started filming.

Our Mission

Skatefresh is an International Online Professional Teaching Academy, with a unique Teaching Strategy.
We provide a “Hub” for all skaters to gain Professional Tuition in the Art of Skating so you have an experience that is fun, progressive, safe and enjoyable, right from the start.

Skatefresh is a Skate School of 2 halves;

– UK Classes in London and Brighton

Inlines or Quads Video Tuition anywhere in the world.


If you learn properly and skate well, you won’t learn by falling, you’ll feel relaxed and alive and in control of your skates. The feeling of exhilaration is unavoidable when you learn safely and have a Training Plan to follow.

Our Philosophy

Asha and her Team of Instructors are PASSIONATE about skating, because we know first hand the joy, good feelings and connectedness it gives us.

Skating Well makes us Feel Alive with Freedom and Good Health.
Skating Well is not instinctive or intuitive so most skaters need to learn the correct positions and nuances of weight and body control, much of which is super subtle.

Our Teaching Strategy

Each skate move, be it a stride, a stop, a turn or a trick, is made up of several different sections in sequence. Your body has various moving parts you need to control in order to skate that manoeuvre.

This complex mix needs to be learned in careful sequence so the body can acquire each part separately before then being blended with the other parts to create the whole move.

So much Instruction ‘out there’ simply demo’s the move and describes what’s happening.

Asha’s methodology comes from 20 years of actually teaching skills to real skaters and having to invent exercise after exercise to achieve the different parts to create the whole.

We’ve done all this with skaters aged 4 – 83 years old. If they did it, so can you!

If you follow Asha’s progressive exercise sequences which are the trademark of her work, you WILL reach your goals.

Our Instructors

Barry - London Skate Instructor - Skatefresh

Asha – London & Brighton

ICP Level 3 Instructor

Teaches quads, inlines, groups and private lessons,  .

The founder & owner of Skatefresh, Asha has been skating for 37 years.

For over 15 years Asha has trained and certified hundreds of new and existing instructors for the Inline Certification Programme (ICP) in the UK, Slovenia, Spain and Brazil. 

In 2015 Asha was Head of Coaching on Disney’s teen Drama “Soy Luna” in Argentina and continued via video coaching throughout the year. In 2009 Asha starred as a coach and judge on the BBC television series Skate Nation.

What Asha’s students say about her:

“I can’t believe how you managed to teach me the inverted mohawk in less than one hour and in the dark.” – Michael, 55

“The lesson we did before the street skate was spot-on.  During the street skate, I felt completely in the zone. Thinking about it makes me smile and feel very proud. Thank you ever so much for being a great teacher.” – Simon, 32

You are a remarkably competent and an exceptionally talented teacher.” – Daniel, 55

Barry - London Skate Instructor - Skatefresh

Hughie – London

ICP Level 1 Instructor

Teaches adults and kids in private lessons on weekdays and at weekends.

Hughie says:
Not being as young as I’d like hasn’t stopped me from skating or becoming a skate instructor for Skatefresh.

My passion for skating and music led me to spending six years of my skate career as a roller disco marshal. Nothing combines the two like this 80’s phenomenon. I have also spent four of my years on wheels as a skate coach and captained the GB team in the 2011 Roll Ball in India.

As well as private lessons for adults, children and families, I also teach in Skatefresh’s school projects.

Comments from a parent of an 11 yr old child:
“What an incredible instructor! Hughie was polite, kind, friendly, extremely professional and definitely on a child’s level. Sasha loved him and has leaned many new skills. The lesson was well structured and covered so much – more than we could ever have hoped for.”

I’m loving my lessons with Hughie, He’s been so great at explaining everything in a way that makes sense to me personally, and he’s patient when I take forever to comprehend doing 5 things at once with my body.”  Charli Beeton 37 (London)

Barry - London Skate Instructor - Skatefresh

Peter – London

Level 1 Instructor

Teaches adults and kids, in private and group lessons at weekends and other times by arrangement.

I began my skating journey in 2006 at the age of seven with private lessons from Asha. Having passed my ICP – Level 1 teaching certificate in Summer 2018, being one of the youngest people to do so, I then became the newest member of the Skatefresh teaching team.

If you’re getting into skating as a way to travel around London, exercise, or just as a hobby I can help you on the journey. From putting a fresh pair of skates on for the first time to skating around the wonderful London parks, my lessons will help you improve your skating, no matter what stage or ability you are at. I have had great success with nervous beginners building up their confidence in incremental steps.

Skating has allowed me to keep fit and to de-stress whilst I juggle being a student at a London Drama School. It’s also a great way to meet new people and enjoy the sun after a difficult day at work.

Barry - London Skate Instructor - Skatefresh

Barry – London

Level 1 Instructor

Teaches adults and kids in group and private lessons at weekends and at other times by arrangement.

I have been skating for over 3 years and I have loved every moment since.
During this time, I learnt a lot by myself, however it was when I started taking Skatefresh’s advanced lessons that my learning accelerated, and my enjoyment for skating skyrocketed.
For me, skating has had huge benefits. It has provided me with not only a way to get some great exercise, but also a way to relax and calm down. What’s more, I have found skating to be an excellent way to meet new people and have lots of fun on wheels.
At Skatefresh, I’m here to share my passion for skating and to help beginners take their first steps so that more people can enjoy this amazing sport.

James - Skate instructor Manchester

Jen – Brighton

Level 1 Instructor

Teaches adults and kids in private lessons on weekends, Mondays and Fridays.

As a professional stilt walker and fire artist I am no stranger to performing, but in 2014 my rollerskating journey began. My friend offered me a skating job in Morocco for New Years Eve. It sounded exciting…the only small issue – I couldn’t skate!

I had eight weeks to go from Bambi-Beginner to a proficient rollers skater. A bit like the “faking it” TV show! The pressure was on and this is where I called upon Asha to help.
In the eight wet cold weeks leading up to New Years eve I had private lessons with Asha and skated every day, whatever the weather. Against all odds we rocked the job and the clients loved us!

My business since then has created numerous skating characters that tour events worldwide. It’s the best job in the world! Skating, get dressed up and getting paid is a bonus.

In Brighton we have a growing skating community and I love to join in with our street skates, such a buzz! We have regular meet ups on the seafront which are such a tonic.

Skating has helped me in so many ways. Its unlocked an amazing community of friends all over the world. If you have wheels on your feet you’re in! I found skating was the only solution to my morning sickness which was constant for 9 months. That being said I went on Skatefresh trips and skated up to 6 months pregnant. I just couldn’t stop, I had the skating bug!

During the COVID-19 first lockdown, I really took to skate dance and was doing daily lessons online. I realised I was skating nearly every day in my kitchen. Skating kept me sane and feeling good!

Before I was a performance artist I had been a Sports Therapist & Personal trainer for over a decade. I have a love for fitness that has never really gone away.

It seemed like a natural progression to teach roller skating. What a great excuse to have more time on skates and share the amazing art of skating.

“Jen has been SO GREAT and so encouraging and she made it all so much fun, even though I found it super-scary to start with! Now I’m 50 I don’t pick things up as quickly as I used to and without Jen I couldn’t have nailed the basic techniques. I can go forwards and stop confidently which was my main goal, but now I’m thinking that turns and maybe even going backwards could be mine before the summer is out… What fun!”
– Jane, Brighton

James - Skate instructor Manchester
James - Skate instructor Manchester

Sabine – Horsham

ICP Level 2 Instructor

Teaches adults in private lessons, and adults and children in group lessons, beginners and improvers. Times are flexible and by arrangement, with two weeks of high availability, alternating with two weeks of low availability.

Sabine says:
I first started skating when I was four years old, when my parents’ attempt to keep me away from a busy road landed me in a roller skating club. I was a figure skater for many years and quads were my thing!

Getting back into skating in adult life I soon discovered inline skates and absolutely loved them. So now I am happy on either!

My main job as an airline pilot takes me all around the world, and my skates are always in my luggage.

Skating provides what flying takes away: fresh air and exercise! Wings and wheels are what I am all about!

I am delighted to be working for Skatefresh, whose professionalism and enthusiasm I experienced first hand, when I first went from quads to in-lines.

I am super sociable and very much a people person. Let me share my love of skating with you and let me take your skating to the next level!

sue hart skatefresh skate instructor
sue hart skate instructor

Sue Hart – Hastings/Bexhill

ICP Level 1 Instructor

My original background is in performance art and comedy cabaret.
I began skating in my 40’s when a job required me to appear as a roller skating monkey. As I was pretty much starting from scratch I sought out the best tuition I could find – Asha at Skatefresh, obviously!

Going through the Skatefresh process gave me an excellent understanding of the mechanics of skating and swiftly advanced my skills to a level where I could happily roll with confidence.

That was ten years ago, since then I’ve skated onstage many times, including for an exotic Variety show in Switzerland, a French Circus with a live rock band and recently at the De La Warr Pavilion, dressed as a giant rabbit.

I also made the cut for the London Rollergirls roller derby team and trained in their Fresh Meat Programme and I gained a lot of valuable, transferable skills, but my real passion is roller dance and am never happier than when I’m grooving on my wheels in the sunshine (or not!) or at the rink.

The ever-growing skate community is really important to me and I regularly join sessions and street skates in Eastbourne, Bexhill and London; there’s always something new to learn, or somebody new to skate with!

I love to share my skate knowledge and experience and to see the difference that a little tuition can make, particularly to a beginner.
Come skate with me!

What is the difference between the instructor levels?

All Skatefresh instructors are certified by the ICP (Inline Certification Programme) to either Level 1, 2 or 3.

Level 1 instructors are trained to teach the Beginner and Improver syllabus of skills and usually have between 1-4 years experience.

Level 2 instructors also teach Beginners and Improvers but are further trained to teach Intermediate skaters (backwards, speed and harder stops). Teaching experience is more than 4 years.

Level 3 is for even more advanced and experienced instructors. Only Asha (and a handful of people worldwide) hold this level.

Asha is an Examiner for ICP for Levels 1 and 2 and she regularly certifies new and existing instructors in the ICP methods and syllabus. Asha is your expert for advanced and speciality skating (dance, street, fitness) but she may also be your first choice as a beginner, because she has 20 years of experience and has taught skaters of all ages (3yrs to 83yrs!).