My Dad, Phil Hayes was a giant of a man not just because of his substantial height but also his generosity, his intelligence, his kindness and his love. At 6ft 5ins tall he towered above most other Dads, which was very handy when we were at the airshow and I could sit on his shoulders and see above everyone else but not so handy when he had to get down on all fours for the Dad’s monkey race on sport’s day! But Dad didn’t mind making a fool of himself, he just wanted me to know that he cared. And that was Dad, he was always there for those he cared about, which for me meant turning up every Sunday so we could spend the day together as well as attending all my sports days, parents’ evenings and school plays. He was always the first to the bar and would give you the last pound in his pocket if he thought you needed it. He was a keen sportsman in his youth and was generally good at anything he turned his hand to – ice skating, cricket, golf and darts. I can remember many a happy day in the pub with my orange juice (having a sneaky slurp of his pint!) watching him play darts and all the team fussing over me! And he was of course the best driver I knew, whether it be cars, buses or lorries. I loved being high up in the lorry cab waving at the cars and singing along with Dad to Madonna’s Like a Prayer album. There was and never will be anyone I feel safer with in a car. I also have so many things to thank Dad for: my love of 80s music, Spurs, my impatience and quick temper(!) but most of all for instilling in me a belief that I could do and be anything I wanted. Dad genuinely had complete faith in me and anything I wanted to turn my hand to he supported wholeheartedly. His belief being that ‘practice makes perfect’. Whilst we are all absolutely devastated that our time has been cut short with him, I hope that someday we will find comfort in the fact that he continues to be with us through the music that we love, the things that we find funny or sad and the wonderful memories that we have of our time with him and the people that he has shaped us to be. Dad was incredibly proud of all three of us children and was never happier than when he met Andrea 21 years ago. They were clearly destined to be together and I am so glad that he found that love and happiness that he so deserved. Thank you Andrea for making him so happy and particularly for the care that you gave him these last few months. Because as most of you will know, Dad didn’t like many people, he was pretty fussy about who he hung out with but he really loved his family and I feel very lucky to have been one of them.

Phil was a real gentleman and a loving father and husband. He was always a very kind and welcoming father in law to me personally and him and Andrea were always very supportive of Sara and me. I remember them, selflessly, taking the whole family up to London one Saturday to help us work on Sara’s first flat. That’s the kind of helpful and practical man Phil was. My last memories of Phil are very happy ones of him at Sara and I’s wedding. Phil was very proud to walk Sara down the aisle. He gave a wonderfully warm and genuine speech at our wedding and I could tell when I spoke to him after the wedding that he was very content and proud of Sara. These are the very fond memories which I will always remember Phil by.

Well Phil where do i start never did i think you leaving would affect me so hard you was always there for me and james and can't thank you enough for what you did for us supporting us and never judging us would always give me that look but never once did you judge or criticise anyone always there for advise you left a big whole in our life and hearts that no other big guy could fill i promised you I would look after Andrea ,Keshena and Kaelan as much as I could and I will carry on as much as I can you are loved and missed every day I wish I could wave a magic wand and bring you back to live your life with your family and friends but you will live on in all off us as we will always remember you the laughs we had the family days out and the parties we had i know your watching down on everyone especially Andrea and the kids and Sara I hope your behaving up there and not causing trouble until we meet again rest easy big guy 💙💙💙💙