Legacy for Bognor Regis Shopmobility charity

Martin Pereira, who passed away in July from a heart attack, has left a lasting legacy to Bognor’s Shopmobility charity with a brand new £2,000 scooter.

“I am absolutely thrilled. We decided that it was a good cause and something that Martin was very interested in. It was one of the charities close to his heart,” said his widow Jean, aged 70.

Donations made to Shopmobility at Mr Pereira’s funeral, instead of flowers, have been put towards the new scooter which can hold up to 35 stone in weight.

“We wanted to honour Martin and his memory by putting the money towards something useful. We will have something on the scooter to say in memory of him,” said Marian Court, Shopmobility manager.

“The scooter is useful and is needed at the moment. It is a way of us saying thank you to Mrs Pereira and all the team for all the work we do and to let people know we do have large scooters, portable scooters and wheelchairs all for hire at a low cost.”

Mr Pereira was chairman for the charity for five years and founded Shopmobility in 1994 and wanted to split funds between them and Sammy Community Transport.

“I am delighted to see that it is helping the town and it is just good to see how the money is being spent,” said Mrs Pereira.

“It was so worthwhile to donate the money. Martin would be very happy to see this,” she added.

“We would just like to say thank you very much for the kind donation which has enabled us to put it towards the large scooter. It was a way that we could get a larger scooter and did not have to fund all the money,” said Kate Allen, MBE, Shopmobility president.

Mrs Allen added: “He was always there and was very passionate about the charity. He was a very friendly man with a lot of business acumen as well.”