AFTER losing their well-loved and valued President Roy Pickford late 2019, the Lytchett Royal British Legion and his family have raised enough money to provide the community with three defibrillators.

President Roy Pickford was a member of the Legion for 69 years, representing the club in his voluntary role.

He was born and raised in Upton and became a massive part of the Upton community.

Sadly, he collapsed at the club and despite the quick help received from members of the public and the emergency services, Roy didn't make it.

Roy's passing prompted an already ongoing defibrillator fund to push on quicker, requiring support and fundraising ideas from family, friends and Legion members.

Roy's granddaughter Emma didn't wait long to continue the vital fundraising for the much-needed defibrillator at the club, which continued at her grandfather's wake.

She explained: "A lot of it happened at his wake. There were buckets full of donations. I then thought of doing a raffle to raise money and put it on Facebook. People were donating left right and centre."

As the fundraising got bigger, Emma approached the Legion and plans were put in place to expand their fundraising efforts.

This resulted in a memorial night taking place at the club on November 23 which raised £4,300, enough for three defibrillators.

Club Secretary Hayley Peach said: "We were all quite taken aback by how everyone pulled together.

"Roy was the go-to guy who knew everything about the Legion. He was the right-hand man to everyone."

Now, having bought three defibrillators with their impressive fundraising sum, the club held an open day at the Lytchett Royal British Legion on January 18 to celebrate.

Emma unveiled the Legion's defibrillator which has a plaque of Roy above it.

She said: "He was the first to put his hand in his pocket if the Legion needed anything. If it had been the other way around, he would have bought the defibrillator himself."

"He took a lot of pride in the Legion."

As a result of her fundraising efforts, Emma is now a finalist for the Leading Star award at the BHStars awards.

Deputy Mayor Cllr Mrs Mikka Pryor was also in attendance at the open day and received one of the three defibrillators donated by the club.