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Remembering David – Marden pay special tribute to Club member

Our Marden Club were able to pay tribute to Club member David Williams with a special cycling session with the support of Brigade Fitness. 

David was a prominent member of the Marden Sporting Memories group, held weekly at Marden Sports Club, leading a remarkable life despite living with dementia in his later years; and it was fitting to hold an active session in his memory.

Remembering David

David’s wife Jenifer paid tribute by reflecting on his husband: “David always wanted to try new projects and experiences, and had always been active, alongside having an interest in sport.

“He always wanted to play fairly and wasn’t bothered about winning, so it made sense that he became a PE Teacher.”

Jenifer went on to recall some of David’s incredible achievements in his life – ranging from sport to great endurance challenges.

“He ‘rescued’ two small golf courses one here in Kent and one in France, with both still running and thriving. He was also deputy leader of an expedition to the Arctic circle, where he taught himself to fish and fed the expedition on cod! Later he led an expedition to the Middle Atlas Mountains.”

Despite developing dementia, David’s sporting interests remained. He changed from riding an ordinary bike to a tricycle and, with the help of a dear friend, continued to play golf right until the end of his life. Jenifer reflected on how much his involvement with Sporting Memories meant to David and his family in recent years.

“We are so grateful to have such an amazing Sporting Memories group here in Marden, to support and inspire members to retain all the valuable aspects that sport has to offer – much like David did during his life and time at the Club.”

Paying tribute with a special session

It was David’s tricycle that inspired the special ‘Wheels of Steel’ session at Marden as Tom, Bobby and Will from Brigade Fitness helped our members get in the saddle and try a number of wheeled machines!

Many of the Marden Club group hadn’t ridden a bike in many years, with 92-year-old member Michael stating this was his first time on a bike for over 50 years! Even Roger, a member who hadn’t cycled in a long time due to rugby injuries impacting his mobility enjoyed a gentle ride on the ’David Mark II’ tricycle.

With the support of Tom and his team, the members tried various walkers, rollators, and a wheelchair, with the opportunity for all of them to try something different from the usual Sporting Memories session in a safe environment.

Sue Eltringham, Club Facilitator at Marden Sporting Memories, was delighted to recognise David’s life with the special session.

“It was great to pay tribute to David with this opportunity for our members, and I must say a huge thank you to Brigade Fitness for their support in making this happen.

“Tom and all his team at Brigade have been so supportive of us here at Marden Sporting Memories and I know they do a lot of community-focused activities, so I’d like to thank them once again for coming along and helping us to have a truly memorable day in honour of David.”

“As an Occupational Therapist, I am a big advocate of supporting members of the team to make sure they have the right support available, should they need any or have the opportunity to try out different activities like this. But using these bikes in a fun environment, amongst their friends and with no judgement, was something we were able to do brilliantly thanks to the support from Brigade Fitness.”

Brigade Fitness is a fitness company based in Kent that focuses on delivering personal training, military experience and functional fitness to help improve people’s lives and health. Visit brigadefitness.co.uk to find out more.

Marden Sporting Memories runs every Tuesday from 2:30pm to 4pm at Marden Sports Club. To find out more, please email mardensportingmemories@gmail.com