A FORMER Portland resident who now lives in France will be marking the D-Day anniversary by organising his last fundraising event to raise money for Dorset charities.

Steven Oldrid, 70, moved to the small town of Bénouville in Normandy when he retired in 2013, after commuting to and from Portland for many years.

Over the years, Mr Oldrid has helped local mayors in France with annual memorial events, including in 2020 when families across the world were unable to make the journey to the beaches to pay their respects because of the pandemic.

For the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June, he is co-ordinating his final fundraiser and is looking to raise money for Dorset charities.

He will be raising money for UK Homes for Heroes, The British Memorial, the Weymouth and Portland Veterans Hub and also supporting two disabled children in Normandy.

Dorset Echo: Steven Oldrid with D-Day widow Maley Abbott in WeymouthSteven Oldrid with D-Day widow Maley Abbott in Weymouth (Image: Steven Oldrid)

A total of 180 tickets for the commemoration event in Bénouville were sold out in eight hours and VIP guests will include the son of the D-Day bagpiper Bill Millin and the Pearly King and Queen of Rotherhithe and Bermondsey. Mr Oldrid hopes 99-year-old D-Day veteran Albert Fenton will also be in attendance.

Others attending are author Neil Barber as well as families of D-Day veterans and 30 younger veterans.

Mr Oldrid said: "We were originally hoping to raise about £3,000 but we are now targeting £10,000 for a number of local charities."

As part of the event there will be a piper reception for people as they enter and a short re-enactment of the taking of the Pegasus Bridge under gunfire, with a symbolic lone bagpiper - the same age as Bill Millin when he played on D-Day - playing 'Blue Bonnets Over the Border'.

Mr Oldrid said it is "so important" to keep the memory of D-Day alive.

He said: "A lot of people think that young people don't know about D-Day but the museums in France are regularly visited by school groups from all over the world.

"People think that the memory is dying but it is not.

"Of course 20 years ago you would have had 400 veterans on the beach at D-Day; they may be lucky to get half a dozen this year.

"It is so important to keep the memory alive and luckily there are lots of people like me, and families of veterans who are doing that.

"I have been fundraising for events like these since I was 13, but this will be my last one as I have just turned 70. But I will still always participate in them."

Mr Oldrid gave thanks to his sponsors Silverwood Farm Experience, Luggage Point UK, and Capfun France and the Bieville - Beuville Mayor.

Anyone else who would like to support him should contact stevenoldrid9@gmail.com