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Silla Carron with a memorial poster to Wayne made by ex-colleagues |
‘They want to be like Wayne’
Community ready to pay tribute to man who was role model for youngsters
TO teenagers living a life of hard knocks in Camden Town, Wayne Sullivan was something of an inspiration – a tearaway who had turned his life around.
As news of his death at the age of just 24 spread through the Clarence Way Estate last week, young men that he had grown up with from primary school days burst into tears and a whole estate was left in mourning.
Today (Thursday), hundreds of friends and relatives are due to pay tribute at a horse and carriage funeral procession and memorial service.
Mr Sullivan committed suicide at his new home in Essex two Fridays ago – he had only moved away from Camden Town a month earlier.
His family are at a loss to explain why he would take his own life.
Mother Carol said: “There were things that he achieved in his 24 years that some people couldn’t achieve in two lifetimes.
“He had been in some tear-ups, but he had turned it around. He was expelled at 13 but he was so hard-working. How many boys his age are able to buy their own houses?”
Despite the problems at school, one of his old teachers at Haverstock School sent a bereavement card to the family home.
Ms Sullivan said: “He was determined to make a go of things. Somebody from his work said ‘are you happy Wayne?’ and he said he had never been happier.”
Mr Sullivan, a fanatical Arsenal fan, went on anger-management courses in his teenage years and joined the St Pancras boxing club, which helped control his aggression. He left school at 16, completed a carpentry apprenticeship and later became a labourer.
A minibus of his colleagues is due to join today’s (Thursday’s) procession. Mr Sullivan was a former pupil at Holy Trinity primary school, a short walk from the estate. He had stayed with his girlfriend on the estate who he first got together with at 16 and planned to marry her, having been engaged for two years.
Ms Sullivan, who has lived on Clarence Way for 20 years, said: “He was honest. He never once swore at me whatever happened at me.”
In a show of community spirit, residents across the estate have got together to pay for the funeral and a tribute bench is due to be put in front of the main blocks.
One old friend broke off from a round-the-world trip to fly back. Others are walking around in shock – but offering their help to pay for the funeral.
Ms Sullivan, who has two other sons and a daughter, said: “The friends he had were the friends he had at primary school. They grew up together. When they heard they just wanted to help.”
Friend Linda Hampton, a former neighbour, said: “His friends said that if Wayne could do it – get a job, buy a house – then they could do it too. Now this has happened, they are more determined to make a go of things. They want to be like Wayne.”
She added: “People think all these boys who grow up on council estates are trouble. But Wayne proved that they weren’t.
“The people around here don’t have big bank accounts. Nobody could just pay £5,000 for the funeral, but everyone has helped to make it happen.”
Silla Carron, the tenants’ leader on the estate, said: “We just said give whatever you can from 10p to a £1, whatever you can afford. Something like this shows how the whole community comes together.” |
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