With current restrictions on gatherings of people, it seems unlikely that we will be able to celebrate John’s life in the traditional way for some time. Various posts on social media over the last few days have allowed the many people whose lives John had an impact on to share their memories and pass on condolences to his family.

We at PRFC would like to create a permanent record of these by compiling a physical book of remembrance/condolence, based on the comments from social media, perhaps with some favourite photos of John and his friends. A few copies would be made with some going to John’s family and at least one being kept at the club to provide a lasting memory of John for all to see.

If you have not commented but would like to then please either add a comment to one of the existing posts or to this post. If you would like to submit something but not publicly then please send it to treasurer@penicuikrugby.org. Also let us know if you would like your comment to remain anonymous. Furthermore, if you have commented on a post but would not wish us to include it, then please let us know via the e-mail address above.

Please also feel free to post or send any photographs of good times spent with John. We can’t promise to include everything as we don’t know yet how much space we will have. Robbie Mactaggart and Andrew Mitchell will be pulling this together on behalf of the club so please reach out to us or any other member of the management committee if you have any questions or concerns.

Finally, as most of you will know, on a Friday evening from 8pm onwards you could usually find John sat at the bar of the Rugby club enjoying a pint of lager tops and some good chat with Jim, Roddie, Tom and whoever else was in. We will be raising a glass to the memory of John at around that time and would invite anyone else who is planning on having a drink or 2 on Friday evening to do the same. Post a ‘selfie’ if you wish, given that we can’t all congregate together.

In time, we will be able to come together physically to mark John’s life and passing in a way that befits him. However we feel it is important to do whatever we can right now to show support to his family and his wide circle of friends.

#rugbyFamily #weArePenicuik

Andrew Mitchell