Professional BMX riders and spectators turn out in large numbers at McKern skate park on Saturday

The Eaglehawk event raised money for cancer research and children's care at Bendigo Health.

Slattery's mother Trish said she was touched by how many people attended the event in honour of her son.

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"I'm overwhelmed just by the number of guys who have travelled to be here," she said.

"A lot of family and friends have turned out and it is amazing. There are at least 500 people here."

Slattery was well known in the Bendigo sports community for his riding, his shop Connections BMX and for helping design the layout of the McKern skate park.

He had a long battle with liver and colon cancer and passed away in December, 2021.

Ms Slattery said her son would have approved of the wide range of ages who attended the jam on Saturday, as he always promoted the sport to the next generation.

Families with babies, young children, teenagers and adults set up picnic rugs on the grass and stood around the park to watch hours of BMX tricks and stunts.

Professional riders put on demonstrations during the jam, while a pop-up barber shop gave haircuts to boost the fundraising tally from raffle tickets and t-shirt sales and a sausage sizzle.

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"Ash always encouraged kids who wanted to get involved," Ms Slattery said.

"When kids came into his shop he wouldn't just fix their bikes. He would show them how to do it themselves. And then he would bring them out to the park to learn how to do some tricks.

"Then they could come to the shop to fix their own bikes.

"He would have really liked to see all the kids here today learning from the older guys and seeing how respectful everybody is of each other."

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