We held a very emotional and memorable Charity evening in memory of Paul.
The event was held on the 10th January (the day prior to Paul’s first anniversary and his 23rd birthday) ……. midnight was a hard time for us all.
It was held in a local working men’s club who kindly let us have the venue for free (saving us around £200) when we explained why we wanted it. The event started at 7.30pm with a lot of eager friends and family wanting to share our special night.
We reflected and remembered Paul and all he meant to each and everyone of us. His brother Mitchell has now followed into Paul’s footsteps and is carrying on the legacy that was “Oh What A Night” DJ-ing; and has also, since Paul’s death, become an active member of the Police Cadets.
We held a raffle and an auction which even attracted bids from Dubai via telephone for the high school musical signed picture!!!! Charlton FC, Millwall FC, Pizza Hut (where Paul collapsed), The Body Shop, EastEnders cast and Welling Round Table all donated prizes or funds. The auctioneer got quite carried away and helped raise a big laugh on a very poignant night!!
We were lucky enough to raise approximately £2500 (including donations on the Justgiving website) after we deducted out costs for the evening. We had a good response to the advertising and hopefully a few more people are now more aware of how this tragedy can affect anybody.
We also had a guest appearance from ‘Wilko’ – a police sniffer dog named after Paul (Special Constable Paul Wilkins). Wilko is currently being trained as a bomb and drug sniffer dog for the 2012 Olympics!! He got a great response and helped people part with their cash!!!
The Cadets – Paul was still an active staff member when he died – kindly helped with the organisation of the night; a great attendance from them all, setting up the hall and the balloons to compliment the white ones donated by CRY.
We are still collecting some outstanding monies included in the total and once we have received all funds we will duly divide them between CRY and the Police Cadets.
We feel that without the help of the Police and the Cadets from Bexleyheath this night would not have been so prosperous for both organisations.
We would like to continue raising money for both CRY and the Cadets, as we are sure Paul would have wanted.
Pam Oates
