The 51-year-old died after the car he was driving was involved in a collision with a crop sprayer near Halesworth in May 2024. And now his legacy lives after his brother sold the tools he inherited to raise money for a good cause.

Richard Bemment sold his late brother’s tools online and used the funds to donate to an animal charity in his brother’s memory.

Richard was able to gift more than £2,600 to Wetnose Animal Aid, an organisation which supports animal rescue centres and has a charity shop in Beccles, Suffolk.

“I came up with the idea and I thought to help me grieve, I’m going to sell all of these tools online at various places like eBay and Facebook marketplace for sale, with the caveat that all of the proceeds will go to a charity we will decide at a later time.”

“Hand tools, drills, saws, chisels, you name it I’ve sold it. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been to the post office or a parcel drop off. The furthest I’ve sent something was to California, USA.”

Darren was a qualified ship joiner who often carried out jobs for neighbours, for which he did not always take payment. Richard spoke about his brother’s kindness: “Let’s say there’s a storm and the shed and the fence goes down or the shed loses its roof, he’ll fix it for you.”

“He was one of those people. He’s very kind, very, very kind, and he put his practical skills for good use for everybody else’s benefit.” Darren was an absolute animal lover. He had three greyhounds and a whippet and he loved every animal on earth.”

Wetnose Animal Aid which has been going for 26 years now, is a small non-profit organisation whose work is funded completely by donations. The charity supports animal rescue shelters by funding specialist equipment, buying food, or paying vet bills. Andrea Gamby-Boulger, CEO and managing director of the charity, said:

“We received the cheque from Mr Bemment’s family, and were overwhelmed with their generosity at such a sad time. We will be sending donations to a greyhound charity as requested and other charities too. Our thoughts and best wishes are with the Bemment family.”

Richard said: “Something good has come from a bad situation. So, I just hope that Wetnose Animal Aid can put it to good use”.