A widow has spoken of her pride that a supportive friendship group has been named after her late husband.
Jackie McPherson feels ‘proud’ to have been told by friend, Coun Mark Le Sage, that the new Angus McPherson Wind Back Wednesday Club has been set up in tribute to him.
Mr McPherson was one of a friendly band of regulars at the Ivy Wall Wetherspoon pub in Spalding and a formal mid-week meeting at the New Road pub will start as a legacy to the former teacher, starting tomorrow (January 15).
Angus McPherson
Mrs McPherson said: “Angus had become anxious following quite a severe illness and had been going down to the Ivy for about three years.
“Angus was supported by the others as much as he was able to support them and we are really grateful to all of them.”
The couple met when they were both working as special educational needs teachers in Birmingham and were married for 40 years.
Wetherspoons Ivy Wall in New Road Spalding
They have lived in Spalding for 25 years and the Ivy Wall meeting place became a comfortable venue for Mr McPherson to visit after becoming ill.
Mrs McPherson, 63, said: “He had sepsis three years ago that ate away part of his vertebrae in his spine.
“He needed to get out of the house and started to go to the Ivy.
Coun Mark Le Sage, Andy Cowper Johnson and Natalie Green toast with Angus McPherson’s favourite drink Peroni. PHOTO: SUBMITTED
“He found it friendly and easy to go in on his own – he would read a paper and soon met like-minded people.”
Sadly the sepsis returned in September and Mr McPherson, 70, contracted pneumonia while at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and he died at the Butterfly Hospice, Boston in October.
Mrs McPherson said: “He was always a good listener and people were attracted to talk to him.
Andy Cowper Johnson and Coun Mark Le Sage at Wetherspoons Ivy Wall pub in Spalding. PHOTO: SUBMITTED
“Just to know people saw those things in him that his family did – a gentle person – to know other people saw that in him is a lovely thing.
“He was quiet and never judgmental and the group was welcome for everyone to come and chat.”
As a PE teacher, Mr McPherson coached children with disabilities in sport at a regional and national level so meeting others he didn’t know well came naturally.
A plaque in memory of Angus McPherson. PHOTO: SUBMITTED
However, his anxiety changed him as a person and he became ‘subdued’ before he was taken off the medication and ‘the Angus we knew came back.’
Mrs McPherson added: “His medication exacerbated the problem.
“At Wetherspoons he didn’t need the medication, he just needed the right people around him at the right time.
“All credit to Mark to enable others to join – it is a real support group that helps each other.
“Angus would love it and would have been absolutely amazed – it gives our family a warm feeling that he has been recognised.”
The first group meeting will be held at the Ivy Wall in New Road on Wednesday, January 15 between 9am and 1pm.
A plaque, which has now been installed at the pub, reads ‘in memory of Angus our Peroni friend, loved by all, your clock ticks on forever 1954-2024’
Mr Le Sage, a Spalding councillor, said: “The idea is for people who find themselves on their own, for whatever reason, to have the opportunity to meet up with people in a similar situation.
“They can find out about what support and help is available within the community.
“Angus was an active member of this group which acts as a support system.”
Those who would like to go along are encouraged to bring a photo of themselves when they were younger to act as a starting point for conversation.
Social prescribers and other groups will also be attending, to offer an opportunity to discuss what is available in the area and for those who would like to get involved in weekly events.