In May 2019, at the age of 28, professional skateboarder Ben Raemers took his own life. As a lifelong skateboarder, I was deeply affected by this news, and when the foundation was formed, I constantly thought of ways to raise money. The inspiration came from my own personal experience.
On January 6th, 2018, I was not in the best place mentally, grieving the loss of a family member. I was stuck in the mire of another miserable, cold weekend. Normally, I would potter around, trapped in my own thoughts. However, on this particular day, I found a small spark of motivation, grabbed my board, and went for a skate.
That small ember of resilience ignited an inferno of creativity—leading me to make my own skate videos and get back into making music. I had recorded music before, but during darker times, I had become jaded with the process and the music scene. Now, with skate footage needing a soundtrack, I dusted off my instruments and started creating music again. Every video, much like learning a new skateboard trick, pushed me to think of something better—a new trick to land, a new challenge to take on. Eventually, this culminated in the idea for the London Postcode Challenge.
In this challenge, I aim to skate in all 122 postcodes in London. For every completed postcode, I will donate £1 to the foundation. To complete a postcode, I must successfully land specific tricks—one of which is a mystery trick reflecting the postcode’s history or a notable person associated with it.
Through these videos, my ultimate goal is to inspire someone to find their own spark of resilience. Do something for yourself, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Embrace absurdity and shout, "This is for me!" Many times, I’ve rubbed the sleep from my eyes while catching an early train to a far-flung postcode in London, but I love the process. The process silences negative doubts in my mind and reminds me that I am doing something meaningful
.With this challenge, I want to give back to skateboarding—the passion that saved me from another cold day indoors, stuck with dark thoughts. This is why I want to raise money for the Ben Raemers Foundation. The foundation has provided me with so much, from suicide prevention training to a workshop on journal writing with the awesome Brian Anderson. This challenge is my way of giving back.