Ravi Remembered

Thank to you to everyone who turned out to remember Ravi on the weekend.

Simon Webb organised the event and here are his words describing Ravi and the day....

"I wanted to take the chance to say thank you again after the incredible weekend.
Firstly and most importantly thank you to Ravi’s family, particularly Lhara, who allowed us to put this event on. The manner in which they have coped is stunning and the support they gave me in putting this on was so great. I cannot surmise in words the efforts they went to and how helpful it was to talk to Lhara about things.
Getting Ravi’s Dad down to Clowns and listening to Bully and Barney explain Ravi’s passion for Juicy Lucy was genuinely something I will cherish forever. I’d forgotten how committed Rav was to the Juicy Lucy cause, embracing it as his drink of choice for the Bi-Centurion! Absolute Warrior.
Thank you to both Andy's for their photography efforts and to Tom from Galvanised for getting down to cover the event.
Thank you to Ben who acted as a liaison for Reading and Fareham. And to Ben again, and Northern Jane and Balsonator for their encouragement and support as the idea behind the event got going.
Josh - I had never even met him before this all happened but this guy is unstoppable. He was a great liaison for me ahead of the event and on the day was able to run things at a moments notice, setting an (unforgiving) tournament schedule, keeping us on track for timings and acting as a bridge for so many things on the day. This guy is awesome.
Brokenshire, you beautiful hunk of ginger glory, thank you for sacrificing optimised boozing time to umpire so many games. You kept the spirit of the games right and made sure everyone could enjoy themselves.
To all the donors, I’ll cover you properly in the press release but thank you again for your help. It really drove up the donations for the charity.
Thank you to my wife Kat who was extraordinarily patient in the build up to this and was able to look after both our little girls while I was away!
I also wanted to thank my hetero-life partner Dan Bateman for being incredible all weekend. Dan and his colleagues at Wessex Clothing absolutely went above and beyond the call of duty with the kit, getting it produced in a ridiculously quick time frame and I think we can all agree the design was strong! Dan thank you for everything this weekend. I shan’t bore everyone with the details but suffice to say you are amazing and I love you ;-)
As I said on the day my last memory of Ravi was seeing him at the EuroHockey Finals in London when the ladies beat the Dutch and won gold. To see Ravi cooly walking off the pitch with his camera over his shoulder was just so affirming. Ravi started off just snapping our games so people had photos to enjoy and look back on. He had a clear talent and he progressed that. To go from shooting at Wide Lane to see him then deliver photos at the highest level was brilliant. To become recognised as a reliable, top standard photographer in a highly competitive group of media guys reflects so much on Ravi’s standards and dedication. I am so pleased Ravi saw the ladies win in London and in Rio. He knew many of them from EH events and at club hockey so I am sure he was so delighted for them. That’s the last time I saw Ravi and while I wish I could see him again it is a fitting final glimpse of that great guy.
Ravi ensured we all enjoyed hockey as much as possible. Listening to stories from his club mates was lovely. Hearing how he helped people play, develop and participate reaffirmed he carried on as he started at Uni - making sure others could enjoy the game.
It looks like we have raised over £2000 for CALM with more to come in over the next few days and Wessex have said proceeds from the annual 6s event will go to this as well. Consequently the final figure won’t be known for a little while but I’ll be sure to post it on Facebook. The money will help CALM provide a support for those suffering depression and those who want to know about it and support friends and family with the condition. It was great to see everyone at the event, to remember Ravi, to raise funds for this great charity and to meet people from his past and hear so much about him. Thank you again to everyone who came, everyone who helped and everyone who got in touch. I cannot do you justice with my words. So I’ll leave it there with one more simple “thank you”.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RaiseForRavi

Mental health has been featured strongly over the past few weeks / months - a lot of people suffer in silence and it affect people in many different ways. If you can donate something, then it would be really appreciated..

Engalnd hockey - Ravi Remembered