Ben, wonderful Ben. Ben the great champion of everyone. Ben who had the infectious energy of a puppy. Ben who loved life and loved us all. With impeccable taste and an open mind. Ben who loved boarding on concrete, sea, snow, stairs, anywhere. Ben the talented artist. Ben the maker. Ben the teacher. Reliable Ben. Loving Ben. Inspiring Ben. Hilarious Ben. Beatboxing Ben. Silly, brilliant, adorable Ben.

We miss him so much. And as a family, we’ve been stunned at the impact his passing has had on you all and amazed by your ability to channel your grief into projects and messages and words and love. The hole is enormous. And we want to honour him in many ways too and are only just starting to consider how. Our first step is we’d like to buy him a boat.

Ben lived for the sea. He would check the tides daily and if it was right, would happily drive hours to catch the perfect wave. He was a brilliant surfer and a supportive teacher of anyone who showed an interest. That boy could play for hours. And he loved his Grampa Dan, who also loved the sea - you might recall the anchor tattoo Ben got in tribute to him.

We want to add to the memorials to him by getting a new lifeboat for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in his name. We have already had substantial pledges and are confident we’ll reach the total, but any amount - no matter how small - will help.

The boat will be stationed in Flint, North Wales (great surfing area - he would have loved it), and we will let you know the final details and launch date once confirmed, so we can have a little party by the sea in his honour.

THE BOAT

The lifeboat will be a D Class model - known in the RNLI as the “workforce” boat and will replace one that has become unfit for services. It will rescue swimmers in distress and smaller boats close to shore. The previous boat made 126 launches, saved 12 people who were drowning and rescued many more who were in danger.

The boat is highly manoeuvrable and usually operates closer to shore than all-weather lifeboats and comes into its own for searches and rescues in the surf, shallow water and confined locations - often around cliffs, rocks and caves. In the words of one of its helmsmen “The D class is the best boat in the fleet in my opinion. She’s an understated pocket rocket.”

It's a boat and is expensive, but we have already had substantial donations and are confident we can reach the £110,000 needed - including the amount raised on this page we are now already three quarters of the way there. If you can add anything, whatever the amount, it would be much appreciated.

MEMORIES

And while we have you, we’re still collecting memories, stories, photos and anecdotes about Benedict. If you have anything to share, it would be much appreciated. We’re still not in a place to go through them, but we’re collecting all we can. If you’d like to add any thoughts, please email: talesofbenedict@gmail.com