Thank you for donating to this wonderful charity, whose staff were so kind to my brother Dennis. He fought a courageous fight against his cancer, maintaining a positive attitude and determination throughout. The staff were amazingly thoughtful and committed to making his last days as comfortable as possible and for supporting family and friends with tea, cake and compassion. Consistently willing to give time to listen, they were always ready with a smile or a hug, however challenging the situation. We will remain eternally grateful for these wonderful people!

My brother was an amazing role model to me and was my real hero. We were really close friends, sharing all our secrets and fears with one another with our own personal brand of banter. As a family, we have many happy memories of time spent together: favourite meals; Christmases; and the inevitable DIY projects, both with ourselves and our sons. Uncle Den leaves a massive hole in the family!

Dennis worked in the rail industry all of his working life as a Signal and Telecommunications Engineer and enjoyed every single day of work, retiring very reluctantly in 2010. Few of us can feel that enthusiastic about our every day work but he really did! He was admired for his meticulous eye for detail, his utter reliability and mentoring of up and coming younger colleagues. For his services to the rail industry, he was honoured with an MBE by the Queen in 2002, of which he was enormously proud.

Dennis was admired by the preservation world for his dedication and skill in steam locomotive restoration where he led or helped on countless projects, as well as restoring his own pannier tank locomotive, 9466. Letters of thanks and tributes have poured in, confirming that he will be sorely missed in the heritage world, of which he was always so proud and passionate. This legend of a man has been described as tenacious, determined, a colossus, an inspiration, an amazing mentor, a surrogate dad, a true gentleman, a willing source of advice and encouragement and a dear friend to many who will mourn his passing.

Please consider helping us to raise a donation for this wonderful charity who eased the pain at the end of Dennis' life for him and for the family.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Photo courtesy of Paul Donovan