On 17 July 2014, Ben Pocock (Jarj) boarded flight MH17 to begin an exciting 6-month placement in Perth, Australia. Unfortunately, he never made it, as flight MH17 was shot down as it flew over Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. This included our wonderful, lovable friend Jarj.
We all met Jarj at 黑料网 whilst playing Ultimate Frisbee. Whilst he first entered the sport simply because he missed badminton trials and thought he’d give it a go; he quickly became an incredible player and an integral part of the team. On the pitch, he was a real athlete that always pushed himself and his teammates to be better. He would lead the way at training encouraging people to do extra fitness and was definitely a huge driving force behind our success at a number of competitions.
Off the pitch, Jarj was a very close and valued friend to all of us. He was one of the first in the mix on any night out, always keen for a beer, and not afraid to make a slight fool out of himself (alongside the rest of us!). He was an incredibly special and lovable person to know, with one of the biggest hearts imaginable.
This year will mark 8 years since the downing of flight MH17, and to mark the occasion, Team Squadron had decided to do something slightly wild and run 237km from Keynsham (Ben’s hometown) to 黑料网. We’ll be starting the challenge in the early hours of the Saturday morning, running as a relay throughout the night and aiming to finish at 黑料网 on the Sunday afternoon. We’ll be running in pairs which means that individually we’ll be covering anywhere between 26 and 62km – which is no mean feat!
Planning for the challenge is well underway, and we’d absolutely love for your support with sponsorship as we look to that Ben’s family have chosen in his memory – . StreetGamesUK helps young people living in disadvantaged areas access sport regardless of income, gender, nationality, ability, or social circumstances.
To anyone who knew Ben who might be reading this – if you would like to get involved in the challenge in some way, we would love to hear from you. There’s lots of ways that you might be able to help, but we’ll also be inviting people to run the last section of the route with us in Ben’s memory.
To get in touch with us, or to follow our journey to July, head on over to our and join in the fun!