A place to remember my wonderful Dad and everyone's chum

He may only have got 73 years on this planet, but boy did he make every single one of those years count. None of us expected his departure to come so quickly after his Pancreatic cancer diagnosis, but right up until the very end he was fighting the good fight.

In his honour I'd like to do something a little different.

My Dad loved the great outdoors and so many of my early memories are us walking and exploring the countryside. Then, even more memorable moments when we got Romeo. His tail bouncing up above the long grass, something we had endless laughs about. Instead of encouraging anyone to visit a graveyard to remember the great times with my unforgettable father, I'd like to get some memorial benches made in his honour.

A space where any of us can go to feel even closer to him, in some of his favourite places. I'm really trying to get through to Hampstead Heath to see if I can get one there, a place where he spent so much time as a kid and loved so much. We joked in the last couple of years about winning the lottery and getting him a house there.

Even in the last couple of months when it was hard to be jolly, we still made plans to spend more and more time on the heath when he was discharged from hospital. That day, much to both of our surprise, never came.

I'd love this to be a spot for conversation, for reflection and for toasting to the good times because my Dad was always full of stories, silliness and a zest for life that we could all learn a lot from.

Hampstead Heath and Margate (right on the seafront) are top of the list for locations right now, but HH is particularly hard to secure.

I won't be accepting flowers on the day of the service and would much rather that any contributions you're able to make go towards something we can all enjoy for the years to come.

I hope one day if I'm fortunate enough to have children this will be a space I can take them. Because whatever life has in store, my dad will always be a huge part of me.

As we always say Dad, I love you more than all the grains of sand on every single beach in all the land.

Emma xxxxx