02-08-2025
Wiltshire man who lost dad at 10 raising thousands for charity
A man who lost his father aged 10 is aiming to raise thousands of the charity that supported him through his loss. Josh Preece, 31, from Bradford-on-Avon, is set to run a 25km course along the Somerset coast on Saturday as part of the SW Coast 50 Ultra Challenge. He has already raised more than £1,000 for Winston's Wish, the UK's first dedicated bereavement charity for children and young people. In January Mr Preece marked the 20th anniversary of the loss of his father Andrew in a road traffic incident, and said he wants to give back to the charity for the "massive difference" it made to his life.
"It was a big shock," said Mr Preece, describing how his family only found out about his father's death when police knocked on the door. "I'll never forget that night," he added. But while he and his family struggled to come to terms with their sudden loss, by a "complete, weird coincidence" one of Mr Preece's best friends at primary school was the son of the founder of Winston's Wish. This meant he and his sister were able to access the help they needed quickly, and were supported throughout the rest of their adolescence by the Gloucester-based charity.
As well as support in school and at home, Mr Preece said was able to make use of the charity's trips to camp or weekends away to meet other young people who had experienced bereavement. The sessions, he said, helped him to make sense of his emotions. "They make you realize that you're not the only one going through it," he said. "As a 10-year-old, you start to realise there's quite a big world out there, and there's lots of people going through things."Dealing with grief at a young age does teach you a lot," he continued. "It teaches you a lot of lessons in its own way, and as an adult in its own way too."
Describing his father as a "big Bruce Springsteen fan", Mr Preece said: " I always think it's quite funny because on his gravestone it says "born to run"."It was obviously one of his favourite songs, but he definitely wasn't born to run - he was of a similar height to me [...] but carried a bit more weight."Now, in light of his fundraising challenge, that famous lyric has taken on a new poignancy. "That's quite nice, running now, and thinking about that," he joked.
