A Leisure centre has paid tribute a year on to a former employee who took his own life aged 23, by raising money for a mental health charity.
Burnley Leisure has launched a fundraiser for Cameron Hartley Ridge, from Read, who died on December 10, 2021.
The fundraiser launch, which is raising money for Mind, coincided with the first anniversary of Cameron’s death.
Sarah Drinkwater, Operations Manager at the Burnley Leisure Trust, said Cameron, who worked as a fitness instructor, was an “adored” member of the team.
She said: “He was an apprentice for two years but then decided to stay on as a fitness and group fitness instructor.
“He quickly became a vital part of our gym team.
“He was like our front man. He adored working with the public and everyone loved him.
“It was heartbreaking for us to lose someone like that.”
Sarah said the team were shocked when they heard news of his death.
She said: “Cameron had suffered with his mental health issues, which the team knew about.
“But we saw him on the day he took his life and everything seemed absolutely fine. It was a shock to us.
“Cameron is never out of our thoughts and minds. He was an integral part of our team and we miss him every single day.”
“The members absolutely adored him because he was always happy at work, you would never know what was going on behind the scenes.”
Sarah said a memorial bench for Cameron will also be placed outside Padiham Leisure Centre in 2023.
Cameron had made several attempts on his own life since 2017, and was well-known to the mental health and crisis teams, and had only recently been discharged from their care in the weeks leading up to his death.
At an inquest at Accrington Town Hall, Coroner Mark Williams said Cameron had had "incredible support from his family" with the mental health teams doing "what was in accordance with their procedures" to help him.
If you want to donate to Burnley Leisure’s fundraiser visit the GoFundMe page here.
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