TRIBUTES have been pouring in following the death of a former dale man whose charity has helped more than 5,000 disabled children take part in sport.
Chris Read, who founded the charity A Smile For A Child, died on January 20, aged 55.
Now hundreds of supporters are to wear the charity’s colour of purple when he is laid to rest on Monday, February 8. Over the 12 years since he founded the charity from his home in Barnard Castle Mr Read raised about £1.8million for good causes.
Mr Read was born and raised in London and attended Hendon School before going on to work for supermarket group Waitrose.
He married his wife, Nicole, on July 31, 1993, and the couple had two children, Lauren and Ben. The family moved to Bowes in 2004 and later to Barnard Castle.
His wife said being made redundant after 24 years at Waitrose in 2008 was an opportunity for Mr Read “to make a difference” by launching A Smile For A Child.
As a keen runner and sportsman, it was fitting that the charity was dedicated to helping disabled and disadvantaged children be more mobile and get into sport.
Later he would be joined in his charity work by his daughter Nicole.
Mrs Read said: “So many children have been helped, we think over 5,000. He has run marathons, completed numerous triathlons and 24-hour challenges [to raise cash].
“Chris and Nicole personally helped with school equipment in Morocco, Brazil and Cambodia – he just wanted to help.”
In total he completed 121 marathons.
A bulk of the cash was raised during collections at London Underground stations or at Waitrose supermarkets where Mr Read continued to have strong connections. The family later moved to Newton Aycliffe to have better access to transport networks for fundraising activities.
Mrs read said: “He would have a special dance when he collected a ‘silent donation’ and he loved to dress in silly clothes to generate more donations.”
His love for fancy dress was evident from the launch of A Smile For A Child when he arrived at the Teesdale Mercury’s offices wearing a chicken suit.
His daughter said: “There have been so many [costumes]. There was Sponge Bob Squarepants. He did a marathon as a gorilla. He was Mrs Clause in the North Sea Santa Dip.
“Dad’s kindness, generosity and down-right silliness is what he will be remembered for and for that I am grateful. I love you so much dad. Thank you for everything.”
His wife added: “Chris will be sorely missed and his void will never be filled. He touched so many people.”
When not fundraising or running, he loved spending time with his children and his dogs Kracken, Archie and Bertie.
His legacy is to live on as his daughter, Lauren, will continue to run the charity he started.
A memorial fundraising page has been created for Mr Read and people who would like to contribute can visit justgiving.com/fundraising
/ChrisRead-legacy.
A service for Mr Read on Monday, February 8, at 3.30pm at Wear Valley Crematorium will be streamed live as Covid-19 restrictions will prevent many of the charity’s supporters from attending.
People can attend the live stream by visiting obitus.com and logging on with the username Zoci6823 and password 574849. They are urged to view a test webcast before the service to ensure they can connect.
