I first met Brian at his 80th birthday party, thrown by the GOSH Scout and Guide group - my first ever meeting as a GOSH volunteer. Many friends came from all over to celebrate, which is a great tribute to the kind of man Brian was.
Over the 3 years I knew him, he was a good friend and I knew him to be a very proud father. He would often bring pictures of his children, grand children and littlest great-grandson - affectionately described to me as 'his lordship'.
He told wonderful stories about his three decades of volunteering. My favourite involved him taking a whole meeting of the group up to a child's room because that one child couldn't leave the ward. Another involved Princess Diana's secret visits to the hospital to visit a young refugee who he came to know very well himself. He was a joker too - he would often say that if we didn't sign in we 'wouldn't get paid'!
I'm so very sorry that I won't hear his stories in person again, but I'll remember them fondly. I look forward to celebrating his life with our group when this is all over - he really was a very special, remarkable man.