Sandra has asked me to say a few words on behalf of everyone who knew and loved Jon. Before I do that, I would like our thoughts to go out to Sandra, Joshua and Lauren, who are the ones who have to bear the immediate and unimaginable loss of Jon, which for many of us will be hard if not impossible to contemplate and still seems unreal. At this time of great grief and deep sorrow, it is sometimes easy for these strong and seemingly intolerable emotions to overshadow the many great things Jon did, and the pleasure we all got from his company, we will all have our specific memories of Jon and these are the things for which we should remember him. For all of us, Jon was the very best of friends in whatever context we knew him. It was that true friendship that we will miss beyond anything that words can describe. The last few months have been very difficult for the family, with Jon spending much of his last few weeks in hospital under very challenging circumstances, the lack of an apparent cause creating great uncertainty. Despite this uncertainty, Sandra and the family remained steadfast in their support, and we can only wonder how they managed to do that. Jon himself never gave up hope, despite even losing his sight. Throughout this period, it is clear to me that their strength as a family has helped them through this ordeal and we should recognise this and applaud their bravery. I first met Jon about 17 years ago. I was at home, when I heard a high frequency engine noise outside. On investigation, I saw a man flying an impossibly large model helicopter on Bentfield Green, an unrealistically small patch of grass. This man was Jon and he was making the helicopter perform seemingly impossible feats of aerobatics and no doubt terrifying the neighbours! I only spoke briefly with him at the time, but knew that I had met someone really special and wanted to get to know him better. My fortune was that I did get to know him well, initially through the Bentfield School PTA, of which Jon was an active, influential member and latterly as a friend. As a member of the PTA, Jon was always the one to think ‘out of the box’ and come up with wacky but great ideas; he added that ‘extra dimension’ that helped so much. His contribution was enormous and his ‘entrepreneurship’ legendry. His Toy stall at the Christmas Fair was famous and always raised the most money by far! Jon always contributed a huge amount to the community, even in the last few weeks getting involved with the ‘Save Stansted Village’ campaign. One of his last suggestions being to ‘plant’ Crested Newt Eggs, a protected species to slow down the Developers! Jon loved to impart his knowledge, and was known to the younger generation as the maverick person who explained and showed them ‘rocket technology’ in several real life displays, whether for local Primary Schools or the ‘Brownies’, generating huge interest in many of the participants who still talk about it today. Being able to connect with young people and indeed anybody was something Jon was great at. All who encountered him recognised this, when Jon spoke, people listened and it was always worthwhile. Jon loved his family beyond compare and he was hugely proud of who they have become and what they have achieved. He was a great Father and very involved with his family, despite his health he ensured they enjoyed many holidays together ranging from visits to the US, skiing in France or on canal boats in Wales, nothing deterred him, despite regular trips for dialysis. It is difficult to summarise and do justice to Jon’s many great characteristics, examples of which include; intelligence, generosity, patience, kindness, courage, determination, helpfulness, and the list goes on. Above all however, he will always be remembered for his great sense of humour which he maintained right through to the end. All of us have I am sure been in stitches of laughter at some joke, witticism or ‘school boy’ prank that Jon shared with us; he was always able to see ‘the lighter side of life’. An example I remember, was sitting in Gatwick airport early one morning. Jon had brought along with him a remote control device from which emanated the sound of ‘people passing wind’. This he placed hidden in one of the store fronts. We all watched in huge merriment as passersby were exposed to this noise, each wondering where it had come from and looking accusingly at one another. I am sure none of us have laughed so much before or since! If Jon were here today and to a great extent he is, he would want us to celebrate his life and remember all the good times we shared with him. Incredibly, Jon’s last few days were still filled with that great sense of humour he had and the determination to be positive to the end. Jon was a ‘larger than life’ character in so many ways and his legacy will remain with us forever in our hearts and memories, and we should not forget that it lives on in reality in Joshua and Lauren.