Tools for Tony

Hi, my name is Patrick and I've been following a Gentleman called Tony Foulds online for a number of years. The television Presenter Dan Walker was the one who discovered Tony maintaining a war memorial area in a Sheffield Park and was featured on a BBC programme a few years ago and brought with it a great story.

On 22 February 1944, eight-year-old Tony Foulds was scuffling with a bunch of fellow schoolchildren in Endcliffe Park in Sheffield when a US bomber plane – a B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed ‘Mi Amigo’ – came crashing out of the sky. It smashed into the hillside little more than 100 yards away, killing all 10 airmen on board.

Horrified by what he had witnessed – the bomber had been flying so low that the schoolchildren could see the pilot waving at them to try to usher them out of harm’s way – Tony vowed to honour the fallen airmen. For more than six decades he has visited the crash site in Endcliffe Park to clean the memorial that was installed there in 1969, and to plant flowers and sweep away dead leaves. Tony, now aged 82, visits the memorial at least three times each week – he has to take three buses to reach the park and often spends three or four hours there maintaining the memorial, before taking another three buses back home.

Tony is a real pillar of the community and everyone knows him. Unfortunately, someone has stolen his leaf blower and tools he uses to clean and tidy the memorial. I'm hoping we can help Tony get some new tools and let him continue the role he throughly enjoys.

All proceeds will go to Tony.

Thanks for reading and bless you x