Weekend in memory of skater Ralph raised £5,000
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Live Like Ralph Weekender at Park View 4U, Lytham and other venues around the area celebrated the life of talented skateboarder and artist Ralph Roberts with skate competitions, art, music and family fun.
Ralph’s dad Neil, who set up the Live Like Ralph charity, to help improve skate parks and support artists. with his wife Fiona, was delighted with the success of the weekend and hopes it will become an annual event.
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Hide Ad“It went wonderfully well and we are delighted with the amount raised,” he said.
“We held an auction which especially busy and one piece of art of Ralph by his friend Adam Parry went for £350.
Along with Park View 4U, close to where Ralph grew up and where he first started skating, events were also held the Plant Skatepark and Dirty Blondes Skate Bar and Nightclub in Blackpool and Moor Park, Preston, where he also enjoyed skating.
Ralph, who worked as a graphic artist, was 26 when he died suddenly at his parents’ home in Lytham in January.
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Hide AdIt was only after his shock death that it was discovered he had sarcoidosis, a rare throat condition which resulted in breathing complications.
The breathing problems caused Ralph to book a Covid-19 test and isolate until the result was known, but it came back negative, only for him to die from what a post-mortem examination revealed to be sarcoidosis shortly afterwards.
Neil and Fiona said he was renowned among family and friends for his smile and how much he cared about others and earlier this summer, the skate park at Park View there a distinctive revamp in his memory, including images of Ralph and the motto ‘Live Like Ralph’.
Details of the charity at www.livelikeralph.com
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