Nick and Madeleine Poole at De La Salle. Picture by David Ferguson (00715236)

THE parents of a 28-year-old Royal Marine who died in service last year paid a visit to his former school last week.

Following ex-De La Salle pupil Ben Poole’s death, his parents, Nick and Madeleine, set up the scheme Challenge4Ben, to encourage Islanders to set and achieve their own personal goals and raise money for charities including Jersey Hospice Care and Help for Heroes.

Since then, De La Salle pupils have been supporting the scheme in a number of ways. Children at the primary school raised a total of £1,100 by sponsoring their teachers and parents to work out on an exercise bike in the school grounds, while they watched them through their classroom windows.

Following this, Mr and Mrs Poole visited the school on Friday to meet the children and to receive their money.

Head teacher Peter Murray said: ‘During his time at De La Salle College, Ben was an outstanding student. For example, he completed seven of our Island walks, all in ‘‘plaque time’’ – under ten hours – which is very rare indeed.

‘The staff at the school are great and were all very happy to do something different for a very good cause.’

To find out more about Challenge4Ben and how you can get involved go to http://
challenge4ben.ning.com//.

Nick and Madeleine Poole at De La Salle Picture by David Ferguson (00715236)