Michał Machowski

During his studies at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), Michał Machowski founded the Warsaw Roller-skating Association "POLSKATER" and in 2011 initiated the project Nightskating Warsaw, i.e. the organisation of rides on roller-skates along the main streets of the city. The aim of the project is to propagate the idea of active recreation among the residents of the capital city, promote sports and exercise, take action to improve access to active recreation close to where you live, and to promote roller-skating as a sport for all ages. Michał has been at the forefront of the Nightskating Warsaw initiative for 11 years, and the event has become a fixture of the summer calendar of outdoor events in the city.

Nightskating Warsaw is completely free of charge for participants and the organising committee including more than 150 people, as well as Michał himself, contribute to the project on a voluntary basis, giving up their free time to do something special for the benefit of the wider community. The participants of the events are not only the residents of Warsaw and the surrounding towns but also numerous groups of skaters from other cities in Poland and abroad, including Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Thanks to the interest in this type of event, as well as the high quality of event organisation and the great commitment of Michał Machowski and his team to the development of the initiative, Nightskating Warsaw has quickly become known as the largest event of its kind in the world. There are 8-12 such events in the year, with each of them attracting 3,000 skaters on average. In 2014, Nightskating Warsaw broke the official Guinness World Record for the largest number of participants, namely 4,013 (for more information, visit the official Guinness World Record website: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-parade-of-roller-skaters), and in the following year, it broke another record in cooperation with Orlen Warsaw Marathon, with 7,303 participants in a single event. The Nightskating Warsaw rides are organised late in the evening, between April and October, when the weather makes roller-skating a pleasant experience. Each time, participants follow a different route leading along the streets of Warsaw districts; the routes vary in length (10 to 30 km) and present different levels of difficulty, so that both novice and advanced skaters can find something for themselves. The events are secured by the police, medics on motorbikes and a security service moving on roller-skates.

For the past 11 years, while developing the roller-skating community in Warsaw, Michał Machowski has also made sure to involve Nightskating Warsaw participants in other initiatives aimed at social welfare, including organizing a ride in cooperation with UNICEF Poland (during which a charitable fund-raising took place to build water wells in Africa – for more information see HERE), the WampiRolki ride in cooperation with Wampiriada (the skaters were then encouraged to actively donate blood – more information), a ride organised together with the DKMS Foundation (aimed at mobilizing participants to register in the database of honorary bone marrow donors – for more see HERE). 

As the project leader, Michał Machowski is acquiring numerous sponsors and partners for Nightskating Warsaw. He has cooperated with partners, such as: foundations (DKMS – bone marrow donations, UNICEF Polska, Lider Animator Coca Cola Polska, Sport Support, Motorcycle Medical Rescue MotoMedic), the Wampiriada initiative, Polish Association of Roller-skating Sports; the media (Radio Eska, TVP Warszawa, portal Warszawa.naszemiasto.pl), and also with brands: Volkswagen (dealerships: Chylińscy, Sobiesław Zasada), Toyota Carolina, Disney Poland, Multikino, Fitness Club S4, Warka).

In addition, Michał Machowski initiated commemorative rides important for the local community, including "25 years of freedom" under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland and the Governor of Mazowieckie Voivodeship, and annual rides to celebrate the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising under the honorary patronage of the President of the City of Warsaw, with the participation of a Warsaw guide, tracing the events of the uprising. In addition, the Nightskating rides also echoed through other Polish cities and towns, including Białystok, Katowice, Konin, Lublin, Piaseczno, Pruszków and the Tri-City, and the organizers of those events relied on the experience shared with them by Michał Machowski.

Michał Machowski has so far demonstrated strong organizational skills in team management, financial management, and event planning. His role in promoting roller-skating as a sport for all ages is invaluable. With each passing year, not only in the streets of Warsaw, but also in other cities of Poland, there are more and more skaters who want to spend time actively, together with families or friends. The rides unite whole families who do sports together. They enhance family ties through joint sports activities. The rides show that both very physically fit and people with disabilities can skate – the sport excludes no one. For children and young people, participation in roller skating is an opportunity to get away from the computer/smartphone or other stimulants – it prevents addiction and social exclusion. Many participants in this way found a lifelong passion and made new friends. Involving himself in Nightskating Warsaw, Michał Machowski devotes himself completely to the project, while repeating that so far it is the project of his life. More than anything, he is committed to making roller-skating a passion for the broader community.