On Friday, November 13, Dorchester lost one of its greatest residents.

Mr Graham Gifford Curtis MBE of Bridport Rd, Dorchester passed away peacefully aged 86 after a long illness.

Graham was born and bred in Dorchester and until he eventually retired in 2000, he had his own business Curtis & Sons, Plumbing & Building Maintenance.

However, in most circles most of his life he was well known for his amazing work organising and collecting money for lesser and well-known local charities, together with the odd one outside Dorset!

In the ’70- ‘80s he was heavily involved in Dorchester Town Football Club and was a regular in their social club, playing a huge part in the 200 club.

Then came Penwithen School, The Acorns, M.V. Freedom (the boat for disabled people in Weymouth), the boxing club, Dorchester Disabled Club. where he was chairman and during his time he helped them raise £63,000 for the purchase of a brand new bus for disabled people by holding band concerts, tombolas, raffles, pig races among other things.

Last year he persuaded his consultant Dr J Graves from Dorset County Hospital to push him around in a wheelchair at the fun run to help raise funds for a new scanner for the respiratory unit. One of his last public efforts was doing 100 laps of his front garden/carpark in a mobility scooter for Weldmar hospicecare!

Graham was such a huge part of the community and was a member of Dorchester Rotary Club, The Masons and The Foresters. As part of the Rotary Christmas traditions, they had a Santa’s sleigh which was put in Dorchester’s South Street.

Graham was down there every year, no matter what the weather (dragging family members too) to shake the can, and sell raffle tickets. One of his most important achievements was a founder member of the Rotary Christmas Draw, which has raised thousands of pounds for local organisations and charities.

The Queen recognised all Graham's hard work in the 2020 New Year’s honours list, and he was given a well-deserved MBE. He was supposed to go to the Palace to receive this in May but due to the current circumstances it was postponed, so he luckily received it in August in his garden from the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset.

The things Graham was passionate about in later life were his wife Tina, his family, his friends who he cherished, his cricket and, of course, his charity work which he made sure everyone was involved in.

Unfortunately due to COVID-19 Graham's family will not be able to hold the funeral they we would have liked, but if anyone would like to carry on Graham's work and give a donation, arrangements have been made for this to be done via Grassbys funeral directors by visiting www.grassby-funeral.co.uk