Official launch of fund in memory of Kettering boy who drowned on holiday

Dylan Cecil was just four when he fell into the sea while playing on a jetty in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, in August 2012.

Despite desperate rescue attempts by his parents and the emergency services, Dylan’s body was found four days later.

Since the youngster’s death, several fundraisers have been held and last year saw the launch of the Dylan Cecil Memorial Fund.

The fund, which was set up to help under-privileged children and their families by providing respite holidays in the Burnham-on-Sea area, will have its official launch alongside a race night at Latimer Park tonight.

Dylan’s grandad John Cecil said: “We have been a registered charity since May last year.

“Because we have now got enough funds to do something, our aims and objectives are to give under-privileged children and their families a holiday in the Burnham-on-Sea area.

“Last year we sent someone down in late October for the first holiday and that went really well.

“This year we are hoping to move that on and hopefully provide four to six holidays.

“We are working in conjunction with Kettering Lions, and it is the Lions who are providing us with people to go down there.

“We are also working with the Lions in Burnham.

“This was the brainchild of Ian Jefferies, who wanted to have a lasting legacy for Dylan in Burnham-on-Sea.

“The idea was a way of us all getting together and keeping Dylan’s memory alive in Kettering and Burnham-on-Sea.

“Ian Jefferies has been an absolute godsend.”

While setting up the charity has been a learning curve for them all, John said he is very proud of what they have already achieved and hope to do in the future.

Doors open at 7.15pm for tonight’s fundraiser, with the first race at 8pm.

Admission is £5, including a sausage and chips sausage supper, and people can pay on the door.

For more information about the fund, search for Dylan Cecil Memorial Fund on Facebook.