Heartwarming messages between men with the same name that led to hilarious event

After Barbie fever hit last summer, many of us had Ryan Gosling's hit song ‘I Am Just Ken’ stuck in our heads. But forget the Kenergy, this year it's the Bens and their Benergy that are giving Barbie’s beau a run for his money.

Thousands of Brits called Ben have joined forces to raise money for charities and support other Bens who may be going through a tough time. So far they have partied atop Ben Nevis, raved next to Big Ben and are planning a trip to Benidorm - and it's all for good causes.

The Council of Bens was formed last August at Boomtown music festival when fifty Bens - chanting their name and wearing ‘Ben’ nametags - met up to watch a DJ called Baseline Ben.

“It was initially just a bit of a joke,” explains Benjemaine Grant-Wilcoxson, 27 from Abingdon, The Midlands. “There was an app at the festival where you could create groups and there was one called ‘Anyone Called Ben Join.’ We had such a laugh that we decided to make a WhatsApp community. The glue that holds us all together is Benergy.”

To join the group, which included Bens aged from 18 all the way up to those in their sixties, you need to prove that it's actually your name. “They'll be iBENtified, but we don't accept official forms of document. So you can imagine the sort of submissions that we've had over the last year,” explains Grant-Wilcoxson, who is the Council of Bens’ PR manager. “We had texts from mums, Tesco club cards, letters from people who have been called up for jury duty - all sorts of funny ones.”

The main group chat has grown to 1000-strong and it is filled with positive Benergy. “We've got the UrBEN Dictionary. I refer to it as the BENnacular. We provide a lot of BENtertainment,” adds Grant-Wilcoxson. There are also many spin-off groups for Bens with different interests such as Builder Bens, for Bens who work in construction, The BENchers, for Bens who like going to the gym,

‘DJ/Producer Bens’ for Bens who play music, and LGBTQ+ group and many more.
“We probably got about 40 to 50 chats that cover everyone's unique interests,” explains Ben Bradley, 23, who is manager of the Council of Bens.

However, the most popular is called Bental Health, which is run by mental health professionals who are of course called Ben. “If there are ever any Bens that are feeling down or need any sort of life advice they will go on there and say what's on their mind and receive support and guidance,” explains Grant-Wilcoxson.

Social media manager Ben Wise, 25, explains that this focus on mental health was a priority, especially in the backdrop of the group's festival beginnings. "We wanted to normalise talking about your emotions,” he says. “If you're being realistic when it comes to rave and music culture, there's a lot of alcohol and substances which can often lead to a negative mental space”

The Bental Health chat has been a lifeline for many, and Bradley explains that it recently led to one Ben in a crisis getting much-needed support. “There was one Ben that attempted to commit suicide and failed, and he put that message in the chat and within ten minutes he had another Ben with him that lived close by,” says Bradley, who lives in Devon.

The Council of Bens have also grown to have a large social media following on Instagram and TikTok, with videos of them raising money for charities by throwing various Ben-themed events garnering millions of views.

In July, 20 Bens climbed Ben Nevis, to raise money for Ben’s Shelter - a Sheffield-based charity that supports people affected by substance abuse - as well as mental health charity Mind. They blasted out drum and bass on turntables on the UK’s highest peak, playing some Ben-themed tracks mixed by members. “It was pretty surreal,” says Wise, who lives in Altrincham, Greater Manchester.

“We were just met with absolutely nothing but positivity. Everyone hiking absolutely loved it. There were no angry hikers shouting at us.” Grant-Wilcoxson adds, “We raised over £2000. The Benergy was insane!”

Last month the Bens travelled to Big Ben, and staged a rave on Parliament Square, to get people to be swabbed and sign up to become blood stem cell donors. “We were contacted by the aunt of Ben Collins. He was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia and he needed a transplant donor.

Basically, without the stem cell transplant, he would never fully recover again from this cancer that kept creeping back in.” Bradley explains. “She asked if we could raise awareness, but we thought we could do a lot better than that!”

Thankfully Collins, 24, was able to get a life-changing transplant before the event which was thrown in partnership with blood cancer charity DKMS. However, 15 Bens were swabbed to join the donor register outside parliament, while they danced and recruited others.

“We made our own leaflets to hand out too. I think we have had over 20 sign up since then. Through the power of social media, you make videos that get seen by millions of people. If one in 10 people learn about stem cell transplant through a silly video of me deejaying down in London that's fantastic.” says Bradley.

They are now trying to lobby airlines to get them all to Benidorm, where they will be raising more money for charities. “We’ve done Big Ben and Ben Nevis, for the Trifecta of Bens we really want to get to Benidorm. I call in Ben Z marketing, we are putting lots of videos on TikTok aimed at RyanAir and EasyJet trying to get some flights out there,” says Grant-Wilcoxson. “We have formed some lifelong friendships, even though we've already known each other for the best part of a year. I would consider a lot of the Bens to be family at this point.”

The Council of Bens is showing no signs of slowing down, and has plans for a well-being event, focussing on mental health, as well as other charity endeavours. “If you can use your platform for positivity, then why shouldn't you?” says Bradley. “We've been able to help by making genuine, life-changing events happen. It's just amazing that we can do that.” It really is. After all, they are ‘just Ben’...

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