Mike Davis aged 75, died on 29th March 2020 and had been fundraising with the Elvis in Essex club for Little Havens in Thundersley after choosing the charity as its ‘Charity of the Year’.

Over the course of last year, Mike and the club raised over £3,000 which funded music therapy and sensory story time sessions for children who have complex and incurable conditions. The club generously adopted Little Havens as its chosen charity again in 2020.

Mike was inspired to raised money for children’s charities by Elvis Presley as he gave thousands of dollars to organisations and children’s charities in his lifetime. Mike said that the club would always fundraise for children’s charities in Elvis’ name and over the last 35 years, the organisation has raised £30,000 for a number of charities, including ‘The National Holiday Fund’ which enables terminally ill children to visit Disneyland each year.

His daughter Sam Henry, from Rochford vows to continue raising money for Little Havens and terminally-ill children in her father’s name as he would have wished. She also set up a tribute page for her father to raise money for Little Havens which has so far raised a further £3,500 to help the charity provide specialist palliative and supportive care to children and their families.

Sam said, “It is my honour to continue my father’s fundraising and of course to continue the Elvis in Essex Fan Club. The support all our members have given me since my father’s death has been second to none, including their wonderful donations in my father’s name for Little Havens.”

Sally Bridger, Community Fundraiser at Havens Hospices has been working closely with Mike and the club since 2018. She said, “On behalf of everyone at Havens Hospices, we are very sad to hear of Mike’s death. I had the pleasure of working with Mike for nearly two years and he was such a gentleman and so generous with his time and charity efforts. He always made me feel so welcome at every Elvis in Essex group meeting I attended, and we will always remember Mike’s generosity to our charity. I first met Mike after hearing him speaking on the radio in 2018, when Elvis in Essex was looking for a children’s charity to support. Since then, his fundraising efforts have made such a positive difference to the lives of the children we care for and it is this generosity that keeps our essential hospice services running.

“We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Elvis in Essex club so they can continue to fundraise in Mike’s name.”

To make a donation on Mike’s tribute page, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sam-henry5