Tragically a dear friend and neighbour Jan Parkin passed away at home on the 3rd February at the age of 55, Jan worked as an accountant for Francis Clark in Exeter. We are trying to raise some funds to help support our neighbour and friend Barry, Jan's husband. Jan has left behind a loving husband, daughter Victoria, sister Sharon and many many friends.

Barry is the heart and soul of our small street, only 3 months ago he lost his Mum and has been grieving for her since. Jan and Barry had been very excited to be taking ownership of a rescue dog in the coming weeks and had many plans for their life in Devon, they moved down from Ruislip in 2017.

Jan was a very passionate lady and a remarkable women, a home maker. She worked very hard and was adored by all her colleagues. She loved her knitting and cooking and was extremely organised. Jan also nursed Barry back to health with his Kidney illness. Barry only had his wife nearby and as Jan said 'and they lived happily ever after' in his retirement and Jan's future retirement by the sea.

Barry and I were working in his garden on the Sunday morning. We were putting up a fence to prevent the new addition to the family (Flossie a Whippet cross Bedlington Terrier) from escaping the garden. Jan had spent Saturday making Flossie all her meals that she was used to. We had finished and Barry was excited to show Jan, I had gone home over the road to do some bits and Barry went to wake Jan when he found her collapsed. He called me over and at this point I started CPR and called for an ambulance.

A beautiful soul has been taken too soon. We wish to support Barry and family through this difficult time and ask for your help too. We hope to provide our area with a Community Defibrillator as currently there isn't one, Dawlish being a seaside town attracts many visitors and even if it helps one person it's worth it.