Drew sadly died from cardiac arrest on 27th May 2024. He had lived well with a heart condition for 23 years and therefore we would like to celebrate his life by raising money for the British Heart Foundation. Any donations are welcome.

A short bio: Drew loved his family, friends, golf, drinking and all sport (watching not participating latterly due to his heart condition). He had to be the last man standing, God forbid he miss out on a party, and his favourite line was “One for the road”. Drew was born in Belfast in January 1959, the second child and first son of Andy and Madge Skelly. The whole family (including sisters Helen, Jennifer, Margaret and Joanne and brother Jim) moved to Rathcoole and Drew spent the whole of his youth in the area – joining the KAI band (snare drum) and playing football for 54th Old Boys Rathcoole & 41st Old Boys Shore Road. He did an apprenticeship with Otis and travelled all over Northern Ireland for work during the Troubles. Drew moved to London with his brother Jim in 1986 and made a lot of good friends in South East London including meeting his wife, Penny, in 1987. Drew married in 1996 and had a heart attack in 2001 which completely changed the direction of his life. Jennifer was born in 2002 and Drew, Penny & Jennifer all moved to Newbury where Drew focused on raising his daughter and playing golf. The 3 of them then moved to Istanbul in 2010 and then again to Johannesburg in 2013 where he met some excellent golf and drinking buddies. The family returned to Newbury in 2015 and stayed put apart from regular visits to family and friends, many holidays and much golf. He had further heart scares in 2018, 2020 and 2022 and he was a keen supporter of the good work done by the British Heart Foundation.

The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives. It's only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures. £24 could pay for two hours of research by an early career scientist, but every pound helps so please give what you can. Thanks so much!