Local author David Hughes has earned a place in the record books as an outstanding fundraiser for charity.
Deserving causes, including Marie Curie, Mencap and Grace House Children’s Hospice, have benefited to the tune of over £70,000 thanks to the 84-year-old great grandfather’s efforts to date – six books covering a variety of subjects.
Next month his seventh title – My Son the Enemy – is launched with proceeds going to Help for Heroes and the Army Benevolent Fund.
It is a work of fiction intertwined with David’s vivid post-war experiences as a sergeant in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (1946-48) in Palestine and then on Cyprus, where survivors of the holocaust were detained in camps by the British Government.
My Son the Enemy follows the twists and turns of a Jewish family savagely torn apart by fascism and conflict, then reunited in the post-war cauldron of Middle East politics.
It’s one of David’s most ambitious storylines and the book is set for an official launch at Rainton Meadows Arena on March 27 at an extravaganza evening organised by Chester-le-Street Rotary Club in aid of Help for Heroes and the Army Benevolent Fund.
The nominated charities have particular resonance at this point in time with British soldiers heavily committed in the war in Afghanistan.
David, a former Co-op manager in Murton, who lives in Houghton-le-Spring, is also a talented painter and devotes much of his time to fund raising activities.
My Son the Enemy is available at £9.95, plus postage and packing (UK & BFPO – £1.50), Europe – £3.50, Worldwide – £6.00) from Carole Pritchard, 18 Provident Street, Pelton Lane Ends, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, DH2 1NS. Cheques made payable to ‘Rotary Club of Chester-le-Street.’
