Hero’s wish honoured
A WISH to help the physically disabled on the Gold Coast by long-time Rotarian and RAF war hero Les Brightwell will finally come to fruition 38 years after his death when his house is auctioned this month.
Mr Brightwell, who was a long-time member of the Mermaid Beach Rotary Club, passed away from cancer in 1983 but bequeathed his home in Sorrento to the club in his will.
He asked that it be sold once it was no longer needed by his wife Pauline, who passed away last year at the age of 95, with the proceeds used to form the Brightwell Trust.
Managed by the members of the Rotary Club, of which Mr Brightwell was a charter member, the property’s sale proceeds will be invested through the Trust with any income earned going to help those who are physically disabled in the local community.
When Mr Brightwell, who was a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow award, one of the highest honours an Australian Rotarian can receive, gifted his Sorrento canal-front home to the club in 1983, the property was estimated to be worth $150,000.
Bob Rollington of First National Surfers Paradise, who has been appointed to auction the property, said Mr Brightwell
could never have imagined the huge benefit his gesture would realise in 2022, with the value of his home increasing many times over in the past 38 years.
The three-bedroom original brick and tile home is on a 751sq m block with an east-facing, sandy waterfront position.
President of the Mermaid Beach Rotary Club Ron Borland said the club had a huge responsibility to follow Mr Brightwell’s wishes and would administer the funds in the Brightwell Trust with care and respect.
Mr Borland said decisions on how the proceeds would be invested and then distributed would be determined once the Trust was established but it was a lifelong commitment to those in need.
“It could be providing sporting equipment, or putting wheelchair mats out for beach access. There are a lot of different things we can do that over the years will help the physically disabled community,” Mr Borland said.
Mr Brightwell specified the proceeds go to the physically disabled because his first wife was an amputee, losing her leg following a cancer diagnosis.
The deceased estate at 123 Campbell St, Sorrento, will be auctioned on January 15 at 11am. It will be open for inspection between 10.30am and 11am, Wednesday, January 12.