Each year myself and others want to remember and honour our son Ben, a bootneck who died in Portland Harbour in November 2018. This year we will be raising money for the important work of Southampton Veterans Trust. I hope to raise £1000 including £500 to cover a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum which is a poignant place for remembering and which some of the veterans have never visited. The other £500 would be to cover supervision costs for the counsellors who offer their vital services for free.

I was very humbled when I visited their recently re-located centre as they make their new home in the closed Bitterne library. The trust was started in 2014 by Colin Gaylor who working in a housing context realised the unique challenges faced by veterans. The charity is completely run by volunteers and provides a safe space to talk and meet others in addition to providing professional counselling, support with housing, finance and signposting to other specialist services. It has literally been a life saver at times and makes a significant difference to those veterans often misunderstood and neglected by society.

I plan to walk (not run) the Jurassic Marathon over 2 days heading into the wind i.e. East to West so that Portland is almost constantly in my line of sight. We plan to gather to remember Ben at his headstone, located in the CWGC Royal Naval Cemetery on Portland at 5pm on 20th of March which would have been Ben’s 32nd birthday. You are welcome to join us.

You are also very welcome to run the marathon yourself if you can !!!

On the 20th Josh and Colin are remembering Ben by swimming a 40 length 1km race against each other by comparing times.

Thank you for your support.