Ex-teacher donates £2k to Fleetwood RNLI as tribute to wife who died before their dream move

Thanks to the support of Martin Brook, the lifesaving charity has been boosted by a donation of more than £2,000.

When Martin, an ex-teacher at Montgomery High School in Bispham, and his wife, Sue, who taught down the road at the former Warbreck High in Blackpool, looked to retire they chose their favourite town, Fleetwood.

They both looked forward to a long and happy retirement, making new friends, immersing themselves in the local community.

The couple had first met when Martin worked at Montgomery and Sue was a trainee teacher there, and they married and lived in the Norbreck area for a time before moving to Ainsworth near Bury, where Martin established a property business.

But they began to dream of retiring to Fleetwood and finally bought a house on The Esplanade, looking out across the Irish Sea.

Just before they made the move, Sue was cheering on some participants in an Iron Man contest in Ainsworth when she suddenly collapsed.

She had suffered a brain haemorrhage and died on July 7 at the age of 71, leaving Martin devastated.

He has made the move to Fleetwood, but Sue isn’t there to share it with him.

Martin, 79, says he needed something positive to emerge from the trauma and he asked his friends and family for donations to his new local lifeboat

station, presenting the cheque for £2,038 at Fleetwood last week.

He said: “It was devastating, especially with it happening so suddenly, nothing can prepare you for something like that.

"We had everything planned and couldn’t wait to start our new life at Fleetwood.

"We’d visited many times and knew one or two people in the town well, we’d walk on the seafront with our dog and make our plans.

“I know this legacy is one she would have wanted and it was a pleasure to meet up with the volunteers down at the lifeboat station.”

Daryl Randles, coxswain at Fleetwood RNLI said: ‘Hearing Martin’s story makes the donation extra special. It was our privilege to meet Martin and we really

appreciate him thinking of us, at the saddest of times.”