The relatives of a much-missed Wiltshire woman have raised thousands of pounds for charity in her memory.
Maureen Johnson's mother Violet Long-Collins died at the age of 97 on April 22, 2025.
Just before the one-year anniversary of her passing, the Johnson and Mitchell families presented cheques to the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance and Guide Dogs for the Blind after following instructions left in her will.
Violet and her husband John always supported Dogs for the Blind.
When they lived in Portsmouth, John and Maureen's eldest brother, also called John, were Boilermakers in HM Dockyard.
They used to raise money with friends and work colleagues for Guide Dogs for the Blind and sponsored at least six dogs.
Through John’s career, he was transferred to work all over Britian and finally set up home in Trowbridge, where he and Violet still supported the animal charity in any way that they could.
Maureen said: "Mum was always an avid reader and spent hours reading over the stories and photos in the Wiltshire Times.
"She also enjoyed her garden and regularly, up until ill health, she used to enter into the Trowbridge in Bloom gardens and window box competitions, winning trophies or ribbons on several occasions."
When her grandson Robert Johnson fell off a garage roof in 2017 and split his head open. the paramedic wanted him airlifted to hospital, but Robert refused as he felt that sending out the helicopter would cost the air ambulance a lot of money and there was probably someone in more need of it than him, so he went to the Royal University Hospital by land ambulance instead.
On the last day of school for Robert's son Steven last day, the boy had his hair shaved off and raised £500 with other school friends and teachers for the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, which is when Violet decided to also support the medical charity through donations and school raffles.
In Violet's Memorandum of Wishes, she left money from the sale of furniture, chattels and asked that some of her jewellery to be sold so that the proceeds could be split between Dogs for the Blind and the area's air ambulance.
To donate, visit https://www.wiltshirebathairambulance.org.uk/ and https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/
The Johnson and Mitchell families have managed to raise £2,000 and £1,000 each, respectively.
They presented the money to the air ambulance at its base in Semington recently.
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