Fundraising drive launched in memory of much-loved De Montfort University lecturer

The grieving family of a much-loved De Montfort University lecturer who died last week have launched a fundraising drive in his memory.

Maria Thompson aims to raise £1,325 in tribute to her husband Andy Plaice, who died on February 18 after a 10-month battle with a rare form of brain cancer.

The JustGiving page hit £540 within a single day. The money will go to Cransley Hospice, in Kettering, which cared for Andy in the final stages of his illness.

Staff and students alike have been paying tribute to the “amazing, funny and kind” journalism lecturer, who edited the Melton Times and the Rutland Times before switching careers to teach journalism at DMU.

Maria, who worked alongside Andy at both the Melton Times and DMU, expressed her heartfelt thanks to the staff of the hospice in a moving post on the JustGiving page. “The amazing doctors, nurses and staff there supported Andy, myself and our two boys to live every moment we had left together and it’s unthinkable to consider how we would have got through it without them,” she wrote.

“Please give what ever you can in Andy’s memory so other families facing the same terrible circumstances receive the same love and care we did.”

You can make a donation in Andy’s memory here.