A POPULAR retired police officer's family, friends and force and Masonic colleagues have donated over £1,300 to charity in his memory.

Former detective Nigel Jones sadly passed away just before Christmas from heart failure, aged just 58.

His wife Lorraine nominated the Paul Sartori Foundation to receive any donations that people wished to make instead of floral tributes.

Llanelli-born Nigel moved to Tenby as a police cadet where he and Lorraine brought up their two sons.

A well-known figure around the town, Nigel was always willing to help people and to share a laugh and a joke.

He was a hard-working member of Tenby Masonic Lodge, and when the lodge held its largest meeting of the year at the end of January, it was announced that the proceeds of the evening's raffle would be donated to Paul Sartori.

The raffle raised £500, which the lodge members decided to match from their charity funds, making a total of £1,000.

to Paul Sartori as their own tribute to Nigel.

This amount was further increased by a contribution of £310 from Matt Ronowitz of the Qube Restaurant, who provides catering for Tenby Lodge meetings and who knew Nigel.

Lorraine, while missing Nigel terribly, was delighted that with the total sum of £1,310 which had been raised for her nominated charity in his honour.

It was also fitting that Paul Sartori were the beneficiaries, as another Tenby Lodge member, Kevin Bateman,had been caring for his wife Carol for several years after a serious accident had left her with degenerative illness.

She sadly passed away in January, and Kevin said that he could not have coped without the assistance and support provided by Paul Sartori carers.

Tenby Lodge Charity Steward Steve Thurgood said “Nigel is greatly missed by us all, and the members of Tenby Lodge are proud to make this donation as a tribute to him. Paul Sartori is a wonderful Pembrokeshire charity that provides compassionate end of life care and support to patients and their families in our area. Charity is a fundamental part of Freemasonry, and we are pleased to contribute to such a worthy local cause.”

Donations can be made to Paul Sartori via their website www.paulsartori.org If you are interested in finding out more about Freemasonry and Tenby Lodge, you can contact the Secretary on 07778 153623 or by e-mail at tenbylodge1177@gmail.com