APOLOGIES FOR PICTURE, I WILL UPDATE WITH A PHOTO OF VERNON ONCE MY BRAIN STARTS WORKING AGAIN!

Hi, I'm Jo (aka Tinky / Tink) & friends with both Vernon, & his estranged wife Sam.

I met them many (many) years ago while LARPing at Locko Park.

Vernon took my (idiot teenage) son under his wing on the field (typical huh? lol), & we'd regularly meet up 'back of house', so we got to know each other.

We've been friends since, even though our lives went in different directions.

To me, Vern & Sam were just the loveliest people. Warm, friendly, open & welcoming, never shied away from offering a helping hand or volunteering their time, even after their son, Isaac, was born.

Vern was a force of nature, he knew how to gel with people, & was so good, nay, exceptional, at bringing like minded people together.

He had an invaluable knack of making people feel comfortable, safe & at ease.

He had a cheeky sense of humour, and a huge laugh that carried you with it. He was pretty good at hugs too.

Everywhere he went, everything he did, he kinda carved himself a niche that people often didn't realise was needed, until he stepped into it. Then it made sense.

He had a very strong sense of fun, but an even stronger sense of social justice.

A keen union man too, often supporting protests & causes close to his heart.

He touched many MANY lives, over many years, in many spheres.

There is so much more I could say, but maybe you could put a memory or two of Vern in the messages / comments?

I'm sure we'd all enjoy learning a bit about the Vern you knew.

Onto the reason for this GFM. (I've never done one of these before, can you tell?)

On Tuesday morning, 3rd March 2026, at Dimmocks Cote level crossing in Ely, tragically Verns car was hit by a train, & he passed away.

On Thursday 5th, Sam called me after being informed by the police of the incident asking me to let his friends know.

Yes, this has been on the news and in the newspapers.

Although Sam & Vernon had been estranged for many years, they never divorced, so this has now unexpectedly fallen onto her shoulders.

Vernon was officially identified today (6th), there will need to be a PM & inquest, so obviously this is very stressful, on top of the shock of his passing itself.

As his legal next of kin, his body will be released to Sam once the investigations are completed, and she is keen to give him a fitting send off, with as many of his friends as possible.

*At this point a time frame cannot be given for his funeral, it may take 6 months or more for a PM to be carried out, so the inquest can take place, and answers found for his loved ones.

Updates will be given as and when they are received.*

However life had been challenging & difficult for Vern in recent years, with health issues & more, a car crash back in the autumn of last year, time spent in hospital, & diabetes complications too.

Ironically, very recently he seemed to have turned a bit of a corner...

Obviously things are very up in the air right now, everything is very fresh and raw for Sam & Isaac, so I have started this fundraiser to help raise the money to (hopefully) cover his funeral and wake costs, & take the stress & financial burden off them.