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Richie, a former roofer from Ensbury Park, Bournemouth was diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a rare form of facial cancer at the age of 27. He had been married a year and his wife Jo was pregnant with their daughter, Eleenor.

Under the guidance of head and neck specialist Mr Ilankovan, Richie underwent 30 operations at Poole Hospital to remove the cancer and to have his face rebuilt using a series of skin and bone grafts.

After a decade fighting the condition, doctors told him he had just months to live. That was in January 2007. He went onto prove them wrong, spending another precious summer and Christmas with his family.

Sadly, Richie passed away peacefully in his sleep in June 2008 aged just 37.

Why the Trust?

During his last months, Richie made plans for his wife and daughter to be cared for after he died.

Friends of Richie's were inspired by the positive way he dealt with his life limiting illness and so they decided to set up a Trust in his name to help local families needing help after a bereavement due to cancer.

Since then, The Richie Keefe Life and Soul Trust has gained charitable status and continues Richie's legacy, helping provide support for low income families who have lost a main breadwinner to cancer. The Trust also engages with local support services, giving aid to The About Face Centre in Poole and Mosaic Family Support for bereaved children.

Board of Trustees

STEVE McCLAFFERTY
Steve, 47 is the director of a number of companies including 1st Waste Management Consultants Ltd. He lives in Poole with wife Lynne and their three children and has been a friend of Richie's family for the past 10 years.

MARK METCALFE
Mark, 43, is the Managing Director of a Poole based security company and the most recent trustee to join the team. He grew up in the Poole area, has been married to Rose for ten years and the couple have a son and daughter.

RICHARD STALLEY
Richard, 45 is a director of RS Associates, his Poole based financial services company which he has successfully operated for the past 25 years. Richard is a keen cyclist and has been married to Jo for eight years and is a father of two.

NIGEL BUTLER
Nigel, 50 has lived in Dorset all his life and has operated his own mobile and landline telecommunications company, Town and Country Communications for the past 23 years. He is married to Justine, his wife of twelve years and is the father of six sons.

MARK COHEN

DEAN HOYLAND

GRAHAM STUART
Graham, 48 is the managing director and owner of Brittania Parking, a national car park company. He lives in the Canford Cliffs area of Poole and is married to Mary with three children. His other charity involvements include a chartered membership of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme where he chairs the charity's property fundraising committee.

The Life and Soul Trust was named after Richie, who will forever be remembered for being the life and soul of everything he was involved in.