Friends of Lowndes Park Chesham

Some of you may recall in a previous newsletter that we had been approached by a woman called Helena Mills who wished to raise money for the Friends of Lowndes Park in memory of her good friend Ben Cargill.

In order to raise the money Helena was going to take part in not one but three triathlons over the course of last summer. So it was that we came to meet Helena and Ben’s parents over a coffee in Costas on the 31st of July 2011. The date was significant as it will be seven years on the first of August since Ben Cargill lost his life in Lowndes Park where a musical concert was taking place.

Each year on the 1st of August Ben’s parents Jim and Judy and his friends meet up in the park to remember Ben and to release balloons. They meet next to Ben’s seat overlooking the island in Skottowes pond where a tree has also been planted in Ben’s memory.

Helena explained that she wanted to raise money for a good cause but wanted it to be something local and as Lowndes Park was one of Ben’s favourite places (Ben himself was a landscape gardener). When Helena approached the Cargills they suggested the Friends of Lowndes Park - She had asked them to choose whatever they thought was appropriate and Helena thinks that they made an excellent choice.

The three triathlons took place in the Hillingdon area with Helena keeping motivated by thinking about Ben who she knew better by his nickname “Beano”. Her final triathlon was interrupted in the final leg when a careless motorist forced her into a pot hole and blowing out her tyre.