Fundraising event held in memory of much-loved Rotherham teacher

Raym Leeson taught in Rotherham between 1979 and 2004, initially at South Grove School and then Clifton School, but sadly died aged just 59 of bowel cancer in August 2004, less than five weeks after diagnosis, whilst still working at Clifton School.

A popular teacher with students Ray mainly taught science, specialising in and biology and kept many animals in his science lab. He was also known for teaching in a mixture of English and Urdu having taught himself the language to support his pupils from the Pakistani community.

The event at Clifton School entitled ‘Hope and Meaning’ was organised by daughter Vic and brought together friends, family, colleagues and past pupils to share stories, poetry, music and food.

Vic said: “He was, and still is, very much respected in the local community for being a very supportive teacher and one of the ones you could turn to when times felt difficult. Words most often used to describe him are “legend”, “gentle, kind, lovely” and “he changed my life”.

“It was the 20-year anniversary of losing him this summer and he would have been 80 on November 22 so whilst we couldn’t have a traditional party for him it felt that it was the right time to celebrate his life and to encourage connections amongst those who knew and loved him – family, friends, colleagues and pupils alike – and to do so by raising funds for Bowel Cancer UK and a local youth project.

“After hosting such a positive event with many new friendships forged and old connections reignited and nearly £1,000 raised to date I hope to put on another event in spring or summer of 2025 that may be more music based somewhere in the Rotherham area.”

“The Just Giving link is open until December 22 and I hope we can maybe raise a few more pounds before then.”

To donate to the fundraiser in memory of Raym visit www.justgiving.com and search for Victoria Leeson.