A life well lived: In loving memory of DRWF supporter and volunteer Roy Winchcombe (1937–2024)
DRWF Event Co-ordinator Lee Calladine pays tribute to charity friend and long time supporter.
It was with great upset when our team recently learned about the loss of a much-loved friend and member of our DRWF family, with the passing of one of our longest-standing volunteers and supporters Roy Winchcombe.
Roy was a huge part of the charity’s history and our journey so far, so I’d like to share some memories of him with you.
I can’t remember when we first met Roy, as with all great friendships, it felt like we had known him forever. Roy was introduced to us through his son Kevin and the Winchcombe family because of their personal connection with Type 1 Diabetes and desire to support our work supporting people living with diabetes, our outreach programmes and funding research striving for new treatments and ultimately a cure.
Roy and his wife Liz were inseparable and together they became regular visitors to our little old office in Northney Marina on Hayling Island, coming in to see us every week, sometimes more than once a week. We were a smaller team back then and help managing the logistics and day-to-day running of the charity was most welcome and appreciated and Roy and Liz would help with all sorts of jobs.
They would sit for hours folding hundreds of letters and stuffing them into envelopes, or when the Royal Mail van turned up each day with sack loads of post, Roy and Liz would sit with us and go through it all. Often, they would don their red DRWF t-shirts and man a stand for us at local awareness days and community events or deliver our information leaflets to local GP surgeries.
They would help us pack and prepare for our own Diabetes Wellness Days and patiently sit punching holes in name badges, laminating table signs and making up delegate packs.
On the day of the events, Roy and Liz would be there in their team DRWF t-shirts with us and our merry band of dedicated volunteers. They could be seen directing cars in the car park, meeting and greeting people, ushering delegates around the venue and helping with the many other duties that would present themselves, not to mention being the friendly and welcoming faces of the charity.
What would we have done without them?
Of course, we would always make sure we looked after Roy and Liz. When they were at the office, we kept them plied with plenty of tea and coffee, biscuits and often cake and crumpets. Roy loved a toasted crumpet. Yes, even in a diabetes charity we have cake!
After 20 years the day came when we were given our marching orders from Northney Marina because our building was being commandeered to turn into flats. We moved a short distance down the road, back on to the mainland to our new office unit in Langstone Technology Park in Havant, a huge site with dozens of other businesses in what was once an IBM business park. This was a complete departure from what we were used to, from our little office where the marine business next door’s little terrier Zuza would come in for her daily fuss and biscuits, the marina ducks would peck at the door for bread and the reassuring chink of the yacht’s masts would sound in the breeze to a huge corporate site with security passes to get in. Roy and Liz of course came with us and were still regular visitors. Those visits became a bit less with time because of health and advancing age, but we still welcomed Roy and Liz to the office when they could make it, not to do any voluntary work, but just to see our friends and share a cup of tea and chat with them.
The last event Roy and Liz did with us was before Covid brought everything to a grinding halt. It would be a few years before we could get back fully to in-person events and activities. The team and I remember that day fondly because Roy found a diamond in the venue and went around to everyone showing them this glittering treasure to many oohs and aahs. Later on, we found out it was a plastic one that had probably fallen off dress from the prom that took place in the hotel the evening before. Oh well, back to doing the Lottery. Roy also misjudged a kerb in the hotel carpark that day and burst one his front tyres and bent the wheel as well, so in the middle of everyone arriving we were trying to contact his son Kevin, move the car and arrange for breakdown recovery. There is never a dull moment with our team, and it wouldn’t be one of our events without some drama and excitement to add to the proceedings.
In the transition period between the lockdown ending and getting back to some normality, we still saw Roy and Liz, but their visits became less and less until the very last time they came to see us at our office. We had a cup of tea, shared some memories and knew then that our journey together had come to an end. We spoke on the phone from time-to-time until dementia sadly and cruelly meant Roy was unable to converse with us anymore.
Roy’s memorial service took place at his beloved church, Hart Plain in Cowplain, Hampshire led by Reverand Kate Macfarlane and where he was a key figure for 50 years. His life was spoken about with love, humour and gratitude and memories were shared by many friends, family, neighbours and parishioners whose hearts he had touched. I was honoured to be invited to say a few words about Roy on behalf of DRWF and how much he meant to us. Roy was a man of faith, a man of community and a man of humanity and that shone through in all the messages that day.
Roy’s son Kevin remembered his father and shared some happy memories with us.
His life began in the City of London Maternity Hospital near Old Street and Wesley’s Chapel which his family attended. Roy would often say that he was born within the sound of bow bells, which made him a true cockney, although that’s not a title he particularly desired. Kevin had his doubts that Old Street would be close enough to hear the Bow bells but after doing some research he found out that his old Pot and Pan as they say wasn’t telling porky pies at all and Roy really was a true cockney.
Eventually the family moved to Wealdstone in Harrow where Roy came of age and began his adult life. He started attending and getting involved in the nearby Christian Fellowship at Oak Hall, which shaped his future service. After a few years the family moved down south in 1968, to Hart Plain, soon to be followed by both sets of his Grandparents who all lived within a few minutes’ walk of Hart Plain church.
As a kid Kevin remembers his dad telling him he helped build the church and thought he literally meant brick-by-brick and putting the roof on, of course Roy meant metaphorically which goes hand-in-hand with the recollection that Roy was actually banned from doing any type of DIY by the family after he drilled through the house electric’s main cable. As many recalled Roy was often at church, helping out with the services, events, the running of the youth club and Sunday school and directing parking during funerals, weddings and christenings. If he wasn’t helping at the church, he was out in the community checking on elderly neighbours, running people to GP appointments, getting shopping and essentials for people convalescing and helping out charities like us.
As well as all this, he was a committed family man and loving dad. Kevin recalls him being a very relaxed man most of the time and looks back with amazement on the freedoms he gave his boys.
As a salesman covering the South Coast Roy would often travel to see his customers. During the summer holidays Kevin and his brother Martin, along with their neighbour Sharon got to go with him. They would be dropped at a particular point in Brighton, Worthing, or Eastbourne and be told to meet back at that point at a certain time.
In those days there were no mobile phones, and they had little pocket money to keep them amused during the day. Kevin laughs when remembering – if we ever asked for any more, we’d be met with his often-used phrase of ‘I’m not Rockefeller you know’. Great times for us but I’m not sure how Dad coped on the return journey with three pre-teens, no doubt sunburnt, tired and starving from a day surviving on Shiphams Paste sandwiches.
Happy memories from Kevin of a wonderful dad.
Roy clearly set an example for his family, friends and community, many qualities he learned from his own father Maurice, who, by all accounts was a hard act to follow. I think it’s true to say that we were very lucky to be recipients of his kind and giving heart.
I was reminded of a quote by the great George Bernard Shaw recently when I was thinking of Roy in a quieter moment, and I think it sums him up completely –
"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live."
I want to say a huge thank you to Roy and to Liz on behalf of our team for their friendship, their support and everything they did for us over the years. The words volunteers and supporters are too impersonal and functional, they were far more than that, they were part of our DRWF family, and it goes without saying that we will miss Roy greatly, but we will make sure he remains a part of everything we do going forward and is always remembered.
We send our love, condolences and gratitude to Liz, Kevin and all of the Winchcombe family for thinking of us and choosing us as recipients of donations in memory of Roy. Even now he’s still doing his bit for us from the other side. A ‘Much Loved’ page has been set up and you can visit it here if you would like to donate to the charity in continuation of Roy’s amazing legacy.
Donate to Roy's Much Loved page.
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