Charity chief with chequered past dies
ROD JONES, 74, DEDICATED THREE DECADES TO AID
A high-profile charity worker who helped hundreds of thousands of Romanians before a fall from grace has died at the age of 74.
Rod Jones, from Middlesbrough, dedicated 30 years of his life to charity work in Romania, but in 2019 police found an array of weapons in a storage facility he used.
Earlier this year he avoided jail due to his terminal brain cancer and at the weekend he died in his sleep at a care home in Stockton, where he was being looked after in his final weeks.
His ex-wife, Gabriela, who Rod met while working on a project building toilets for orphans in Romania, said it was initially a terrible childhood which led Rod on a downward spiral in his youth.
James Rodney Jones, better known as “Rod” was, in his younger days, a self confessed “dodgy” nightclub boss and armed robber.
But a family tragedy made him change his ways. His 18-year-old son was tragically killed in a car crash, a few days before he was due to set off on a charity convoy helping impoverished families in Romania.
In tribute, Rod decided to do one trip in memory of his son and handed out gifts and goods to those less fortunate. And, that was the start of three decades of dedication to the country and the establishment of a the non-profit charity
Convoy Aid Romania.
Donations, including shoe boxes filled with gifts, toiletries and toys, would be packed away ready to make the long journey to North-east Romania. Charity workers would then spend the next few months personally handing out the gifts before returning to Teesside.
Goods were exported between four and five times a year. He was able to keep the charity going for so long, thanks to a Godparent sponsorship scheme and donations, and at one time helped about 20,000 kids each year. The charity was run by Rod and Gabriela with the help of a group of volunteers known as ‘Godparents.’
Each godparent sponsored a child for one pound a week, the small amount ensuring that those less fortunate in Romania were guaranteed help with clothes, food, toys, household goods, school materials, furniture and medicines.
There’s no doubt that Rod’s bighearted generosity touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of Romanians, but in 2019 officers searching a Dicken Self Storage unit, found a 9mm Heckler and Koch pistol kept in a white linen bag; a shortened double barrel shotgun – which was in full working order, three spent cartridges – which had been fired from the shotgun; 45,000 assorted cigarettes and a quantity of rolling tobacco and £26,636 in cash.
Rod pleaded guilty to eight firearms charges. With just months to live, Rod appeared at Teesside Crown Court in January this year via a video link and was handed a twoyear prison term, suspended for a year due to his condition.
Gabriela, who remained good friends with her ex-husband, said he died at 1.20am on Sunday. She said: “It’s a lot to take in. We did so much together with the charity.
“Rod was like any other human being, he did some things right and some things wrong, although his was a bit more extreme with the firearms. He had a terrible childhood and a turbulent youth. He was let down by society as a child and ended up in and out of prison.”
She said it was the death of Rod’s son which saw him turn over a new leaf and become involved with the orphans in Romania. Gabriela, who now has dual citizenship, was working as a nurse in Romania when she met Rod.
She said: “There was an orphanage next door to the hospital and I volunteered to help him with the building of a bathroom. The children didn’t even have any toilets.”
The couple fell in love and were married and stayed together for 18 years living on Teesside and running the charity.
Following his arrest, Rod wrote a letter of apology, saying his crimes had nothing to do with Convoy Aid and urging people not to punish the charity.