A PEEBLES family were delighted to raise a mammoth £15,000 for the British Heart Foundation in memory of their late father and husband.
Gary French, 59, was a much-loved family man who was well known around the town – involved at the golf club, bowling club and a former player and manager of football teams Peebles Rovers and Tweeddale Rovers.
The stonemason sadly lost his life last year after suffering a heart attack while working at a house in the town, prompting a massive outpouring of grief in the community.
Wife Iris, daughters Johanna, Sarah and Emily, his grandchildren and the rest of the family rallied round to organise a memorial day in his honour at Peebles Golf Club in July. This will now become an annual event.
Members and friends of Gary were able to honour him in fitting fashion with a day that would have been right up his street – golf and friendly competition, followed by an auction, a disco and a few drinks.
A staggering £15,450 was raised, which the French family were over the moon to be able to donate to BHF.
Daughter Emily said: “The golf day was a massive success and it meant so much to us as a family to be able to do this for dad.
“We had so many amazing volunteers and fantastic sponsors who all helped make it run as smoothly as possible. We are so grateful to Peebles Golf Club for allowing us to run this event in his memory every year. We weren’t the ones who raised the £15,450, it was him.”
She added: “It had Gary written all over it. He loved to organise golf days and bring everyone together. He always said he wanted a better ball at Peebles as it was one of the only formats where he wouldn’t manage to disagree on the course with Iris. The auction and raffle at night, he would have been up there working the room and you would have seen him spinning one of us round the dance floor. Definitely we felt his presence missing.
“I actually still can’t believe we raised as much [as we did]. I think he would be so proud of us uniting together to help raise money for such an amazing charity. Hopefully it can make a massive difference.”
The family have also been keen to clear up some confusion around the cause of Gary’s death. He was stung by wasps shortly before and it was initially thought that may have been a contributing factor.
But months later, in January of this year, they were informed it was a heart issue that had taken his life.
While the golf day and the epic contribution to the charity has brought them some comfort and pride, so has the love and support from the Peebles community.
“The community has been amazing”, said the 27-year-old. “It was obviously such a shock to us as a family when he was taken from us so suddenly.
“The kind words about him and funny stories are 100 per cent a big help in keeping us going. The size of the funeral and the turn out of the golf day showed to us how much he was loved by so many.
“The worry always is that people are going to forget but one of his friends said to us there is comfort in knowing that someone that special will never be forgotten. I think that says it all.”
David McColgan, head of BHF Scotland, said: “Gary French was a much-loved member of the community and this is an incredible sum raised in his honour for which we are eternally grateful to his family.”
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