Farewell to ‘fun’ Yvonne
QUIRKY CHARACTER AND DEVOTED CHARITY WORKER
“FUN and crazy” Yvonne Wright has been remembered by charity shop colleagues after her death from cancer at 61.
Quirky Yvonne dedicated her life to charity fundraising.
Originally from Clifton, she was diagnosed with lung cancer just weeks before her death on November 15.
She leaves a husband and two children.
Mandy Smith, manager at the Cancer Research UK shop in Clifton, remembered her as a loud and quirky character.
She said: “Every single person that came in as a visitor, Yvonne would tell them that she’s the quiet one out of all the volunteers – but she was not.
“As a friend, she was very quirky. “She loved tattoos and anything that was black or had a skull on it – she liked things like that.
“Whenever we had leaks or there was something wrong with the store, I’d ring in and Yvonne would come in and help. She did a lot of off-site work.
“Yvonne took whatever responsibility you gave her and she took it seriously and thrived on showing people how to do a new task.”
There are around 34 active volunteers at shop, and Yvonne worked at the shop for five years.
“She knew a lot of people,” said Ms Smith.
“At one fundraising event, we hired a monkey costume and noone knew who it was until she [Yvonne] opened her gob and people would like: ‘Oh hi Yvonne!’”
Yvonne participated in many charity events. For one fundraiser, she shaved her head for Cancer Research and decided to keep it like that.
“Yvonne had done the Relay For Life 24/7 at Harvey Hadden for a few years, which is just walking around the track, raising money for 24 hours.
“At the event, she would keep changing outfits that she had made for her and other people. Dressing up was really her thing.
“The ideas that she would come up with were crazy. She shaved her head in front of the shop and then once she grew her hair for a year – which she hated but was fun for me so I could watch her squirm!
“One time, it had rained and the shop floor had got wet, Yvonne was vacuuming and the Hoover blew up!
“Yvonne also did jobs that needed doing, she loved it. There had been times where she was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.”
She was hit hard by her friend’s death.
“When Yvonne passed away, it was an absolute shock,” she said. “When you get an early diagnosis, it’s critical to be treated and, with Covid, a lot of cancer patients have had to wait to be seen.
“After Yvonne passed, two of the volunteers said they wanted to do something so they’ve done a little bake-off. We have two judges, Councillor Maria Watson and one of our 90-year-old volunteers – who will give her honest opinion!”
On Friday, staff and volunteers held a fundraising event in Yvonne’s memory. Many dressed up, and a raffle and cake sale were held. Shop volunteer Becky Smith said: “When I first started, it was when lockdown came back and I had a full-time job but this was something to do. Yvonne and I clicked straight away. When we went into lockdown, we’d message one another to see if the other was all right.
“Yvonne made everyone laugh. I remember a time when Yvonne was chasing me round the store with a coathanger. She was a character. I came up with the idea of this event and then tried to get as many donations as possible. When it comes to events like this, everyone will do what they can.”
Co-op, Farmfoods, Boots and other Clifton shops donated raffle prizes and volunteer Jean Rogers put together hampers.
Jean, who has worked at the shop for a few years, said: “People like Yvonne, they get missed because of the work they do. For this event, everyone’s done brilliantly in such a short amount of time.”
Another volunteer, June Robinson, said that Yvonne had introduced her to fundraising.
She said: “I thought ‘I don’t know if I could do this’ [fundraising] and Yvonne said ‘yes you can’ and, since then, I have. Fundraising helps with your self-esteem and I love it.
“Yvonne was lovely. I just feel like she’s going to walk in – she was so full of ideas. I wouldn’t have done this [dressing up] if it wasn’t for her.
“Yvonne was always out the front, shaking her bucket. She’ll truly be missed.”
Yvonne was lovely. I just feel like she’s going to walk in – she was so full of ideas
June Robinson