More than £1,000 raised for Black Country charity in memory of Staffordshire man
More than £1,000 has been raised for a Black Country charity in memory of a well known man.
A fundraiser was held for Black Country Headway, a brain injury society, after Philip Austin was involved in a hit and run in October last year.
He died after the incident, aged 67, near John Street.
The cheque handover was held at The Nest pub, Mr Austin's local.
Michelle Greenfield, Philip’s daughter, helped raise money alongside family and friends. She said: “In October, my dad was involved in an road traffic collision – a hit and run.
“My dad went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and passed away on Boxing Day. He died due to a brain injury and those people helped a lot of people in the hospital and around the area and they helped us a lot. The whole community pulled together.
“It’s a big thank you to the community for pulling together and it’s to give Headway some recognition. It’s been an emotional time but they have helped us through.
“They’ve had the money and it was from two days of fundraising. I wish I had done it a bit longer but I wanted them to have the money to use. We did an Elvis tribute night.
“All his friends put it on Facebook and friends and family all got involved and got raffle tickets. Everyone donated raffle items in the community – from the butchers to shops to charity shops, who gave us unwanted gifts.
“Everyone pulled in and helped and even by throwing money in.
“It was lovely how people joined together in the circumstances.
“They all knew my dad and he was very well loved.
“It’s amazing what they do and it helps that we can help.”
Staff at Headway, a brain injury association, answered more than 11,000 calls last year – and donated £55,000 in emergency grants to people in need.
Michelle, 35, added: “They work in the hospital helping families and the patients.
“They helped us financially and emotionally.”
