Ben Garland: Ride to the Tide memorial in honour of missing man

Around 100 bikers have taken part in a special motorcycle ride to honour a man who went missing off the coast of northern Ibiza last year.

It is thought Ben Garland, from Southwick, Wiltshire, was taking photographs of a storm when he was swept into the sea in January 2020.

The memorial ride from Trowbridge to Poole raised over £1,000 for the RNLI.

Mr Garland's father, Mark, said: "I'm just so happy to see all these people here. It means the world to me."

Despite an extensive search by the Spanish emergency services and Mr Garland's family and friends, the 24-year-old has never been found.

One of Mr Garland's few possessions that was recovered was his Harley Davidson motorbike, which was flown back from Ibiza and towed behind a car for the memorial ride.

It was his keen interest in motorbikes which prompted the idea for the Ride to the Tide fundraiser which took place on Saturday and ended at the RNLI's lifeboat station in Poole.

A friend of Mr Garland's, Kyle Jamieson, said: "The ride means a lot, not just because it is remembering Ben, but it's kind of closure because his body still hasn't been found.

"This is the first time, due to the pandemic, that we have been able to do something on a large scale to memorialise him and it's all going to a really good cause as well."

Len Young added: "Ben was just so full of life. He embraced life, he was such a beautiful person, and he would be so proud of us today."

Mr Garland's friends and family said they hoped to repeat the ride every year in his memory.

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