Luton man says he hosted his own wake to celebrate life
Friends and family packed out Hope Church in Luton to spend time celebrating Pat.Christine Boyd, who helps to run the singing dementia cafe, said: "It's a real honour but it's tinged with sadness."Pat has been a fantastic friend to our dementia cafe for those 10 years."We can hopefully celebrate his life because he's had a wonderful life. He's been Mr Party Pat."Another friend said: "I don't think anyone could be upset, the way you're doing this tonight. It's absolutely brilliant."You mean the world to us, you've always been there."
Pat said it had been "very emotional, seeing my friends having this wake and seeing their love".He wanted to make the most of his last few months and weeks."I thought, I'm going to have a party like no other party. I'm going to bop around on that floor as long as I can."Because when the time comes and I have to go into palliative care, that's not going to happen – but until then I'm going to continue going to the groups."He told his friends at the event: "Thank you for coming. You're diamonds, love you all, you mean the world to me."
Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
On Grindr you're an object, like picking clothes online
For Lewis, hook-up apps such as Grindr offered a way to explore gay culture that had been missing in his upbringing in rural first, he loved the excitement of casual sexual encounters being available at the swipe of a phone but soon it became addictive. "You get the validation, that dopamine hit when people message you and hit you up, it is enjoyable but that is the problem," he says it started to damage his self-esteem and he found himself chasing validation - equating his worth with his says low moods led him back to the app's loop of quick sexual encounters that often left him feeling "dirty and gross", fuelling his anxiety and depression."On Grindr you're an object to them, like picking clothes on Asos," he a social networking app for the GBTQ community, is the biggest app of its kind and it now has about 15 million active monthly people, gay and heterosexual, use other apps for hook-ups enjoy it and don't think twice, while others feel there is a deeper issue and it has become a fast-track to instant gratification and has normalised easy access to Lewis, it has been challenging to establish more meaningful connections beyond sexual hook-ups in a world where many young gay men seem to be focused on one thing."When you don't just want that, you feel like the odd one out," he says. Jacob Alon is an up-and-coming singer who played Glastonbury this summer and has been compared to 70s folk legend Nick songs are often tender but they also tackle subjects such as casual sex with strangers on gay hook-up of the 25-year-old's most popular songs - Liquid Gold 25 - ends with the refrain: "This is where love comes to die.""I wrote that song after a series of hook-ups on Grindr that left me feeling quite empty and degraded," Alon tells the BBC Disclosure documentary Should We Hook Up?."It can be great fun," the Scottish singer says. "But there is definitely a culture that can be quite toxic."Alon, who uses they/them pronouns, says in the past they put themselves in risky situations by meeting up with random strangers in a park in the middle of the night."Those people could have very easily hurt me and no-one would have known," they say."People have done things I didn't want them to do and not listened to me when I told them not to." Hook-up culture in the gay community has deep roots, dating back to a time when same-sex relationships between men had to remain acts only became legal in England and Wales in 1967 and it was more than a decade later that Scotland followed hook-up culture means sex is available 24/7 - and with just a swipe of the phone in your pocket. At a bar in Glasgow, Fintan, Kip and James say Grindr is for hook-ups and there was no pretence it is for anything other than sex."It's so superficial," 23-year-old Fintan says."Everyone's got three pictures or maybe just one picture. Nine times out 10 a lot of them are shirtless."Kip, who is 30, says there has never been any intention to build a genuine connection with someone on his hook-ups."It has never been 'wine and a gossip'," he says. "It's been 'take your knickers down, let's get to it'." But Kip says it is not always a great experience."Sometimes I have left and I have thought: 'that was so hot, I'm so amazing'. "But there are other times when you leave and it is 07:00 and people are going to work and you are there shivering, feeling dirty and dejected." In response to the BBC documentary, a Grindr spokesperson said: "We take seriously the responsibility that comes with being a platform used by millions of LGBTQ+ people every day, and we're committed to supporting their wellbeing in all its forms."
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
Inside the weird and wonderfully subversive home of Gorillaz where iconic band are brought to life
GORILLAZ: HOUSE OF KONG ★★★★★ IN a discreet corner of London's Olympic Park, you'll find a vast, dingy looking metal warehouse. The word KONG is picked out in big red capital letters above a menacing statue of Pazuzu, a demon-god entity from ancient Mesopotamia, only this one is unceremoniously covered in stickers. 3 3 Welcome to House Of Kong, the endlessly weird and wonderfully subversive home of Gorillaz. You may think of 2-D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle as a virtual band — product of the fevered minds of musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. But this immersive exhibition, which opened its doors yesterday at the Copper Box Arena, is the physical embodiment of their 25-year history. So visitors get the sights, the sounds and, er, the smells that created the legend. Having been given a sneak preview, I was sworn to secrecy about many of the surprises in store, but I can give you a few juicy details. With headphones on, I am invited by a tour guide down a dimly lit, wood-panelled corridor with a sign at the end — again in bold capitals — which implores: 'REJECT FALSE ICONS'. The first room I enter is devoted to what is called the 'miscreation' of Gorillaz, through Hewlett's dazzling drawings. I see how the cartoon band's final line-up was arrived at, how a whole world was built around them and finally how they came to life through animation. I hear the story of their wild ride into the world of music — beginning with the self-titled debut album (2001), then continuing with Demon Days (2005), Plastic Beach (2010) and so on. This part of the exhibition is fascinating but relatively normal. It didn't quite prepare me for the bizarre (secret) scenes about to unfold. Official music video for the track Humility from the Gorillaz's newest album The Now Now Without giving too much away, I get lost in total darkness at one point and have to be rescued by an assistant with a torch. Shocking pink At least a panic attack didn't kick in — and I'm putting it down to a bit of Murdoc Niccals mischief. I can also add that I was very impressed with the large, original model of Plastic Beach, the shocking-pink floating Gorillaz HQ in the South Pacific made of humankind's detritus. And by the time I exited through the gift shop (in time-honoured Banksy-inspired fashion) and emerged blinking in the sunlight, I felt like I was ready for a lie-down (although not in a darkened room!) On the poster, Murdoc describes it as 'an exhibition like no other.' I would add the words, 'and then some'. 3
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
New picture of Anne and husband released ahead of her 75th birthday
The Princess Royal's forthcoming 75th birthday has been marked by the release of a new photograph of the King's sister with her husband. Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence have been pictured on the night of a Windsor Castle state banquet, held by the King in July in honour of France's President Emmanuel Macron who was making a state visit to the UK at the time. The princess is shown wearing her banquet gown and regalia, Order of the Garter Sash and Star, Order of the Thistle Star, King's Family Order and Royal Family Order from Queen Elizabeth II. Ahead of her birthday next week, the princess has been hailed for her non-political royal soft power and 'amazing' stamina during her decades of duty. Charity leaders who work closely with the King's sister revealed she cares deeply about the state of Britain amid the current climate of challenges facing the world. As the princess approaches her personal milestone on Friday, the woman often labelled the hardest-working royal is said to be, rather than slowing down, doing more than ever. She has, those who know her recounted in celebration of her birthday, a 'wicked wit', a practical approach to problems, and a flair for 'not always agreeing' with what they say. Save The Children UK chief executive Moazzam Malik praised the 'self-effacing' princess for her influential 'soft support', adding 'you can see that she cares' about the state of the nation and the world, and in particular for children experiencing adversity. Mr Malik told the PA news agency: 'Obviously, as a royal, she's not a political figure, but her soft support for us is very inspiring for us as an organisation and for our collaborators and partners.' He added: 'She's very low key. She's self-effacing. 'She doesn't want to kind of take the limelight, but she's very committed … You can see that she cares about the state of Britain and the state of the world. 'There's a lot of challenges for us as a country, and indeed, a lot of challenges for children at a time of great geopolitical challenge. And she cares.' Anne has been involved with Save the Children UK for 55 years, first becoming its president in 1970 in her first ever charity role in the year she turned 20, then as patron from 2017, taking over from her mother Queen Elizabeth II. Mr Malik said the princess had met some 27,000 of the organisation's supporters and helped raise tens of millions of pounds over the years. She spends a large amount of time visiting Save The Children's projects in the UK where one in three children are growing up in relative poverty, and overseas, having travelled to countries such as Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with one in 11 children globally in need of humanitarian assistance, he said. Mr Malik added: 'She's one of our chief supporters, and it's great to have somebody like that you know who will keep nudging you forward.' Tanya Curry, chief executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of which Anne became patron in 2008, suggested the princess had increased her workload ahead of turning 75, rather than reducing it. 'I think she's probably done a lot more for us actually, and the kind of stamina that she brings to that, mentally and physically, is amazing,' Ms Curry said. She added: 'She's working incredibly hard, and she positions the royal family in such a great way that people really understand and really can see the work that she's doing.' Anne is a key member of her brother the King's slimmed-down working monarchy and played an essential role when she stepped up in support of Charles following his cancer diagnosis. In June 2024, she was rushed to intensive care after she was believed to have been struck by a horse on her Gatcombe Park estate. But the princess, who was back at royal duties less than three weeks later, revealed she has no memory of the incident but now views every day as a 'bonus'. Michael Baker, chief executive of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), said Anne, who has been involved with the organisation since 1971, was determined to attend its national championships for her first return engagement after her admission to hospital. 'She wanted to be there and come what may she was going to be with us, and that was so powerful because it was clearly a determined effort to be there as the first visit back…,' he said. 'That was very deliberate on her part … and even on that day, she stayed well over her time period.' Mr Baker told of the princess's 'great wicked wit', adding: 'She's the first person to put everyone at ease with a quick one-liner or something that really gets to the heart of something.' The princess supports more than 300 charities and organisations, and earlier this year brought many of them together at a special Buckingham Palace forum, insisting this was the only way she wished to mark her forthcoming 75th birthday. Lord Kakkar, chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 of which Anne is president, highlighted the princess's practical approach and likened her to her father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, for her ability to talk in depth about science, engineering and technology. He said the princess was 'very deeply committed' to the commission's values in order to have a 'profound impact on the lives of people in our country', and around the world. The commission, set up by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert at the time of the Great Exhibition, awards around 35 postgraduate fellowships and scholarships a year for advanced research in science, engineering, the built environment and design. Lord Kakkar said of Albert's vision: 'Her Royal Highness is very, very deeply committed and that is really, ultimately, doing all of this so it has a profound impact on the lives of people in our country, throughout the Commonwealth, indeed, throughout the world.' The princess, known for her forthright manner, does not always agree with other people's conclusions, he suggested. 'That is very much the approach that (the Duke of Edinburgh) took and that Her Royal Highness takes, to be interested,' Lord Kakkar added. 'What one sees in the conversations is a genuine fascination and interest in the issues, not always agreeing with the conclusions, but always being able to, with that demonstration of having prepared properly, having thought carefully, being able to engage in a meaningful conversation.'
