The Stroud News and Journal has launched this fundraising campaign in memory of Jack Mitchell, the young soldier who died at the Warehouse in Stroud on Sunday, February 5.
Alongside Jack's family, we want to raise £1,000 for the Kenyan orphanage that inspired the 24-year-old while he was in the country with the army.
Jack, from Stroud, who was a gunner in the 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, became passionate about the orphanage while in Kenya for six months from July to this January, and also helped the villagers by delivering clean water to them.
His mum Kate said helping the orphanage via the fund would mean so much to her son.
“He was especially affected by the conditions of the local orphanage," she said. Jack and his fellow soldiers spent a lot of their free time helping out and provided much-needed items.
“We think Jack would really like this idea, and that it would be a fitting way to remember him and all that he cared and felt passionately about”
Jack’s grandmother said he may have moved to Kenya one day.
“He was a brilliant grandson, I can’t say enough how much I loved him – there’s now a real gap in my life and I’ll miss him forever," she said.
"A light has gone out in all our lives and we are less for it.
“He always used to say to me ‘come on, you can do it’ and that’s what I remember every day – he was very special.
“We figured that Jack would actually move to Kenya at some point, he felt so at home there, we knew he is very happy and loved helping the children he met.
“Any money raised will go to projects he cared about in Kenya, whether this is to help bring clean water to villages or to help the orphanage directly.”
Jack rang his father Julian, chairman of Painswick RFC, to say that as he sat overlooking the Great Rift Valley in Kenya he felt connected with his ancestors, saying ‘this is where we came from’.
The family will be making an announcement soon with the final details of what a fitting memorial for Jack will be.