There was a young man called Ashley Gambling, who was very special to a lot of people, who was suddenly and cruelly taken from us recently.

I personally had the pleasure of being his friend and colleague for many years and have a lot of good memories.  He was full of love and energy.  He always had time for a hug and a chat and could quickly put a smile on anyone's face, mostly on purpose!  Let's not mention his laugh!

I was chatting to one of his friends, Mo, last week and he said he would like to help out with the costs associated with this terrible tragedy. What a lovely idea, I thought, and since then many of his colleagues have come forward with the same suggestion.

When I put this to John, Ashley's dad, he was very appreciative of the offer and wanted to make sure the money would go to something tangible for those who contributed.  

He suggested that any money collected is used to pay for a memorial plaque on the cemetary wall next to Ashley's mum's.  Just £500 will mean it can be there for 10 years.  Ashley would have loved this.

It will be a place for us all and others who loved him and miss him to go visit.

I will share this with all I can, but please share with others too.

Any money collected will go straight to John Gambling and ideally I would like to hit the target by Friday 5th May 2017, so he can make the arrangements. As so many of you have already expressed a desire to do something like this, I think we can do this by that time.

Thank you all for whatever you can give.