To all of Lea's family and friends who took part in Ride the Res for Birmingham Hospice - Thank you all so much for your support, we hope you all had a great day. We are so grateful for the support you give to the hospice in Lea's memory and know that he would be immensely proud of you all! Sending you our kindest wishes.

Jo’s poem tribute to Lea From Jo, AKA Blob, Lea’s sister Where to begin, well what can I say, Lea was an amazing brother in every way. From trying to kill me on the tread mill, To leaving me hanging from a tree He will always be the very best brother to me. Building dens in the gully And turning dads shed into the wolf gang HQ Bringing a bucket into the den if we ever needed a …. seat We fought as kids, but we stuck together And we really will be best friends forever There are so many memories and so many happy times It’s hard to find different ways to try and make it rhyme Mollie will still love the way you always called her Fred She’ll forever treasure the Pandas you drew by her computer and above her bed ‘Don’t mess this up Blob’ you said, the night that you met Steve On the payroll we put you, and one shift you did achieve. (Worst employee ever) 😊 You were the one with all the talent, you could draw, sing and play guitar The only skill I had was inventing the fun size mars bar You and Em have done an amazing job of bringing up the boys And I can’t believe they share your passion with all their nerdy toys (I mean football tops) You really were a top brother, in-law, son, uncle, dad, cousin, husband and friend Your memory will go on and on until the very end Now it’s time to say goodbye, we’re so glad you’re not in pain So, fly high you great big Gump, until we meet again.

George’s tribute to his Dad from his “celebration day”. Beautiful words that sum up exactly how we all feel about Lea…… Although it might have looked like I was taller than him, to me, my dad was as tall as a million empire state buildings. He could make me forget about my worries in an instant, or cheer me up before I could let a tear drop from my eye. We all found the process of setting up today hard. but the thing that I noticed was how happy my dad was in every single photo or video. He was always smiling. and I think that pretty much sums up him and his entire life. No matter what was thrown at him that day, or what he was up to, he found joy in everything he did and had a smile on his face. And because of that, it meant he got to make so many incredible memories with all of you here, and tell us all his crazy ass stories. so many that you wouldn’t have believed he did it in 51 years. As you may have been able to tell, my dad absolutely loved superheroes. and if you know us even a little, it’s definitely not tricky to spot that we share that same love. But the reason I think I love superheroes so much is because they remind me of my dad. He might not have worn a cape or shot lasers out of his eyes, but he was such a hero, and the biggest fighter. I’ve never met anyone like him. He turned the impossible into possible. Someone who could do what he did, whilst going through what he had to. Cycling to London, making a garden for his family to enjoy and my personal favourite.. making an entire album with his kids whilst having the most humongous fingers I’ve ever seen in my life. I honestly don’t know how he was able to play guitar so well. But that’s just who my dad was, always living every day to its max and putting himself before others. Making someone laugh, or just checking up on you to see if you’re alright. I remember being asked the once who I’d like to be when I grow up. Everybody else would name a footballer or somebody famous, but my answer was always my dad. We all loved him so much and we always will. Not a day will go by where I won’t think about him, talk about him, laugh about our memories with him. And I know he’s still going to be making memories with us every step of the way. He would have been the greatest grandad to my kids. He’d always talk about it and although I won’t be able to have that, they’ll know absolutely everything about him and I’m so grateful for the time I had with him, because it meant he got to be the greatest dad to me. I can only hope that when that time comes I’m only half as good a dad as he was. But he taught me so much. Best of all, taught me how to be a good person and taught me about doing the right thing. And that’s something he encouraged all of us to do without even saying it. You could have met him a million times, or a few times, but I guarantee you’ve got that same great opinion of him. He’s an inspiration. and I’m beyond proud to call that person, my dad.

Thank you for setting up this memorial to Lea. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.

I am I and you are you, whatever we were to each other that we still are. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was.