Our lives changed forever, when, in November 2018, our son Ben died at the age of 44 from non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Ben's death was not only our loss, but Lewis, Dexter and Ben's step-daughter, Rebecca lost their father, and Vicky, his wife, lost her husband along with Jo, his sister, who lost her brother. Also,he was nephew,.uncle, cousin and brother in law to the extended family, all of whom miss him very much. His friends and work colleagues also have a place in their hearts for Ben. He is sadly missed.

Ben was a keen cyclist,enjoying both road and off road rides, so it was only natural that he would seek to take up a challenge involving cycling. In July 2018, Ben rode the Etape du Tour, an event open to amateur riders, usually covering the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. This particular stage was 158.5km long. In doing so, Ben raised £2400 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

In 2019, we organised the Ben Vernon Charity Ride starting and finishing in Chesterfield, Derbyshire raising £1831 for Cavendish Cancer Care, Sheffield.

Come 2020, however, the pandemic stopped our plans to have an event open to the public, but Linda and Andy, Ben's aunt and uncle did a sponsored ride around the Peak District, raising a magnificent £2300 for Cancer Research UK. In 2021, we held a virtual Ben Vernon Charity Ride and raised a creditable £557, once again for Cancer Research UK. In 2022 and 2023, we were able to go back to open to the public events, raising just over £3600 for both years.

This year will see the ride run on Sunday September 15th, starting and finishing under the big screen on Vicar Lane, Chesterfield, signing in from 10.00 and the rides will start at 10.30 and again supporting Cancer Research UK.

We do hope you can contribute to a charity that means so much to us, and help us fulfil Ben's legacy.

Thank you

The Vernon family