There has been a big void in my life since you’ve grown your wings. I won’t ever forget our times together, from when we would play football up the park to when you saved me at Nans BBQ because I couldn’t handle my drink.

You’d always give me the best advice and you would always encourage me to do well in life and follow my hopes and dreams.

We had planned on going on plenty of fishing trips but we never got around to it, and I’m gutted I won’t ever get to experience it with you.

You’ve made us all so proud with all of your achievements and I’m especially proud to be able to call you my brother who I’ll always look up too and idolise. I’d always look forward to seeing you when you came down with Charly. We’d sit in the kitchen talking and catching up. I can’t imagine any family event without you, but I can promise you we will always be celebrating the good times we all had with you and celebrating your life.

One day, when I have children I’ll be sitting down with them, telling them stories about the ginger carper and your funny antics and give them the advice you would give me in hope you’ll help me guide them.

One of the funniest memories I have of Joe, was when I was hospital after an 11 hour surgery on my back. He came to visit, and wanted to see me walk, I stood in my gown and he asked if it should be tied up at the back so I obviously said yes. We worked our way around the hospital until we both heard a nurse calling for us. Excuse me she said, you can’t be walking about like that!! She sounded quite serious and to be fair a bit annoyed. Little did I know, Joe had purposely tied up my gown a little bit so my bum was hanging out for everyone to see, Safe to say he was in hysterics and I felt like a nut case but after the embarrassment we both were in hysterics.

Life will be very different without you here brother, but I promise everything I do from now is for you and I look forward to the day I can tell you all about it. Until we meet again mate. Keep on fishing up there, and fly high for us all. We will always be looking into the sky to see you shine.

Love you always bro. ❤️❤️❤️

You can shed tears now that he is gone
Or you can smile because he has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him
Or you can be full of the love that you share

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday

You can remember him and only that he is gone
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

Dear Joe,

I cannot honestly recall the first moment we met, I can however never forget the moment I looked at you and realised you were now my little brother. I had often thought how cool it would be to have a little brother and when we were little, you taught me how it was definitely not cool to wish for such things. Scrawny, very annoying and ginger springs to mind, but that was you in the early days of being my little brother. Despite how little you were, you were just so incredibly defiant. Defiant of any rules or authority and just there to cause havoc and quite simply, wind me up as your elder sister who at that time was desperately trying to navigate teenage years whilst you constantly opened my bedroom door at the bottom of my stairs and ran off, so annoying. You then made your point quite clear when you redecorated my bedroom in black and white stripes within a week of me leaving for uni, thanks for that, never forgotten.

That brings me on to our second chapter. Our loving life and wreaking havoc together phase. I’m still not quite sure when this happened, but all of a sudden, you were no longer an annoying little brother but now a partner in crime and someone I could easily try and shift the blame to when our plans went wrong. I think back to all our secrets, god we had some fun. I think to date we are fairly 50/50 too, in terms of bailing one another out. Although you most definitely still owe me for clearing up that one time (you know the bad time) but mind you, you had my back when all those £2 coins ‘disappeared’ from Derek’s tin. That reminds me, I never had the chance to tell you, thanks to you, your two nephews have refused to refer to Grandad as Grandad now for about 2 years because of you, he is now firmly referred to as just Derek, what a legacy you have left. God my boys idolise you, talk about favourite uncle. Their promise to you, is that they will fish. Not as often as you did, but they will fish, and every time remember who took them on their first fishing trip and think of you with the biggest smile. I loved our random chats, the ones where we would share our aspirations for the near future. I’ll never quite know how you turned it around, from being that little ginger shit to being showcased around on that pedestal and invited to all those Lion things with Dad and Glor, but I loved how you rubbed it in my face by facetiming me while you were there, playing Bogies during one of their quiz’s on FaceTime with me definitely is on the list of our all-time greats as is updating me constantly on the crisp hiding saga with Derek, just brilliant, it still makes me laugh now. The infamous day you locked yourself in the apartment on holiday in Turkey, we still do impressions of your angry walk when you got out. I promise we will never stop impersonating you, it’s just too funny. You were just too funny.

Our third chapter, the chapter that surprised me the most. The so, so proud chapter You may not know this, but god I am proud to be your sister. Not just because you were so funny, kind and loved by so many, but because of what you achieved. You found a girl, you loved her, you knuckled down and became so sensible when you needed to, but without losing that bit of Joe that I love so much.

What would I have changed?

None of it, other than you have left me. I am not quite sure what happens from here, I am not sure how I remember where that saying came from ‘laying on the floor like a little bitch’ that we shared so often, because I can’t call you and ask anymore. What I will do is, talk about you endlessly, now with tears but in time with such a big smile and I am sure we will laugh often at our memories of you. I will continue to be as pretentious as possible in your honour and above all, I will be here for your closest friends, Charly and our family who are completely lost without you. Oh that’s not forgetting my duty, to take over and honour your role of ensuring that Derek is still wound up, frequently.

I miss you so much.

All my love, however never a goodbye, just….BOGIES…!!!!

Joe, from the first day we set eyes on each other I knew we'd be friends. We became more like brother and sister. We stood by each other through ups and downs and always had each other to lean on. You were the kindest, most caring, funniest person anyone could ever wish to walk through life with. You were the life and soul of every party. You had more facts stored away than anyone would know. You were very strong-minded and had to he right whether that was the case or not. I was always the one to give up and let you think you were, just for you to drop it so we didn't argue for hours. The stories and memories that I have shared with you I will treasure forever. Having the chance to have you in my life was a gift - a gift I will be for ever grateful for.

My Best friend, and you always will be.

Another all-consuming passion of Joe's was fishing, and this had started when he was on holiday in scotland at the age of 12 and Derek took him to a trout lake where he had some fly-fishing lessons. He enjoyed himself so much that he stayed longer at the lake and caught six brown trout. From that point on fishing became Joe's life. Charly explained that he couldn't drive past any body of water without stopping to explore it further. But it didn't stop there, he quickiy realised that there were bigger fish to catch outside of the UK and went to France alongside his friend Mark, where each year they fished for a week and he also went at other times in the year with other keen angling friends. He always enjoyed himself and their company.

Joe had so many good friends who all described him as loving, caring and one of a kind. He was clearly everyone's friend, liked and respected by so many . 'Get Hooked on Fishing' is the charity that has been chosen by family and friends as a special memorial to Joe, because it combines two things that mattered most to him - fishing and helping young peopie to have the best start in life.

When I first heard that Joe had passed away, I heard people say that they are lost for words..? But, there are lots of words that I can think of to say how I felt, and indeed how we all must of been feeling. Disbelief. ? Shock. Confusion.? Numb. Devastated.! But the biggest word I can use to say how we all feel is completely and utterly heartbroken.

I didn’t know Joe for as long as most of his other friends, in fact I only met him 14 years ago when he was 17. This was on one of many fishing trips that we went on over the years, mainly to France, We hit it off right from day one and Joe became one of my closet friends. We went on at least a dozen trips abroad together, and in all that time we never once had a disagreement or a bad word to say to each other, this just shows what sort of character Joe was.

He was always willing to muck in and help out with anything, no matter what it was, including collecting fire wood. I remember on one trip we were collecting logs from a field to build a camp fire ( Joe loved building a fire ) It was in this field that we saw what I thought was a BULL, but Joe was adamant it wasn’t, it was incredibly funny when he realised I was right as the BULL chased him through the field, but some how he still managed to hold on to the pile of wood he’d collected as he ran towards safety.

That was just one of hundreds of memories that I have of Joe, all of which showed me his funny side, his caring side, and his generous side He would call most weeks just to say hello and to see how things are and he was always cheery and upbeat. I’m going to miss these calls so much.

We are all going to miss you Joe more than words can say I’m honoured to of known you and call you my friend.

For anyone here today and for anyone who is currently Live streaming this, I'm Ryan and I'm standing here knowing what I'm about to say wont show the amount of love I have for this boy.

I have known Joe for over 20 years, again I will class Joe as my brother as so many other people will. I have always looked up to him as my older brother. Till this day I still don't know how we have become best friends. We are completely different; we are chalk and cheese. However, they do say opposites attract. Joe has always been outgoing. He never cared about the consequences and lived life to its full and I feel my role in our friendship was his carer making sure I got him home and to make sure he doesn't cross the line - however that didn't normaly work.

I can stand here all day talking about all the stories I have with him. They will all make you laugh and to the people who didn't know Joe as well wouldn't believe it had happened. Every good memory I have of Joe he has been involved in some way. If that's from when we met Playing football, growing up through high school, attending Colville House, fishing, family do's or just the many times we spent together growing up. He's a family member to my family and many of your familie too.

Me and the boys have already said Joe was the glue to our friendship. We all become friends through Joe, and that was Joe, he made friends instantly, he was someone who you would meet on a night out or in the street, you will have a conversation with him and instantly you will remember him, and I know if it wasn't for what is going in the world right now this place, outside and the streets will be packed with the people who love this boy.

As I'm standing here I wasn't sure if could do this with him lying next to me, however Joe last year gave me the great honour of being his best man at his and the wonderful Charly's wedding. I have never been so proud. I should be standing in front of you all providing you with all the funny/humiliating stories at his wedding day, giving him the biggest hug, raising our glasses and wishing him and Charly the best life together and knowing I can't tell him in front of you all how much I love him, how proud I am of him and how much he has had such a positive impact on not just my file but my family's life.

Knowing I'm not going to be growing old with him, knowing he's not going to be there to be uncle to my daughter (Betty, as he calls her) is heart-breaking.

Every day we would talk if that's message, phone call or sending each other random funny stuff, I'm still waiting for my phone to ping. Still waiting for his random calls, still waiting for him to call me at 3am in the morning when drunk telling me how much he loved me for hours on end. Knowing I'm not going to have these anymore hurts so much.

However, I am so privileged to have had him in my life, I've been so so lucky to have the memories, the stories and the photos. Last time I was with him was a week before and it was just me and him talking first thing in the morning through the marsh and woodland for a few hours just chatting, catching up and having a coffee and a good random laugh, at someone else's expense. That last memory of just me and him sitting there together will always he with me every day. There won't be a day go by that I won't smile when thinking of you mate.

I love you so much pal. You sleep tight now, and we will meet again somewhere someday. You'll Always be by my side.

Sadly, Joe was to experience the awareness and feeling of sadness which we are all feeling today, due to the loss of his brother Ben, followed closely by a few of his friends. He dealt with those circumstances as best he could but needed a way to escape and considered the opportunity to go to New Zealand. It was while at Kiss Weekender at Vauxhall Holiday Park in 2013, and through a mutual friend, he met Charly who was to become the love of his life. They sent time facetiming, texting and on the 7th, March 2014, they made their relationship official. Joe's mum, gloria's words on meeting Charley were "so lovely to meet you, he's even tidied his bedroom"! Their romance continued and in a surprise for Charly, Joe Proposed in April 2019 on the island of guernsey at a location which was special to Charly and her family. Everyone knew about the engagement except Charly and she was encouraged by all her friends to have her nails done, and she couldn't understand why!! Joe gave her a. special ring which was sentimental to her Mum and Dad. It contained three diamonds and Joe had it personally reset to suit exactly what Charly wanted, making it all the more special for her. At a similar time, Joe's working achievements were recognised even further when he was invited by Eastern Region Roofing College to join them as a 'Roofing 'Instructor and NVQ Assessor for up and coming apprentices. Joe enjoyed the teaching but assessing was his favourite part of the job, being our there and working amongst his trainees. Hee loved helping young people.

Earlier in life, Joe lived for the moment and never took life too seriously, until he met Charly. It was very clear early on that Joe was in love with her and wanted a future with her, and in order to achieve that he knew he needed to work hard to change his financial habits. In the order to achieve that he knew he needed to work hard to change his financial habits. In the meantime, she bought her flat as another building block for their future, and after a couple of years of saving hard Joe finally achieved a credit score that allowed him and Charly to buy their first house together. He had completely turned his life around. He was so excited that the first person he told was his Mum.

On the 12th December 2019 they officially moved in to their first home together in Fressingfield, Suffolk and started to plan their wedding for March of this year. Then Covid happened. Joe was furloughed but on a positive note it gave him the time to work on their house and on Easter weekend last year, Charly and Joe bought Cleo, their Jack Russell puppy. She completed their new family and they were very much looking forward to a perfect and happy future together.

To those people that don't know me I am Anthony, or as Joe called me, Pea Head This is the hardest thing I have ever had to write. Joe is a best friend and brother to me and will always remain a massive part of my life. I have known Joe now for 20 odd years. I first met Joe when playing football and we instantly had a connection with the love of football and both supporting Newcastle before he changed to Crystal Palace.

Joe later on in life got me into fishing, which he absolutely loved, and I started to enjoy fishing and the only time I used to go was with him. Fishing is going to be hard to do for the first time again as I will be looking around for you. Joe was a massive part of our group of friends and was always involved with what was going on. He was the glue that held us all together. Joe can never be replaced. He was one of a kind and I think everyone can agree on that.

Joe could walk into a pub of strangers and end up making friends within minutes of being there. I am gutted we didn't get to have that time away for the Stag Do as I knew how much you were looking forward to some time away with the lads. Joe always used to wander off on a night out and in the morning he would then phone up and tell us all where he ended up and that could be anywhere. For instance, he ended up sleeping on the floor at the train station with a homeless person giving him their blanket for the night.

I am absolutely gutted by what has happened and stood here with you lying next to me I still don't want to accept it, but I know you are now up there fishing and catching all them carp now, well hope you are as our last few sessions we blanked.

I am happy to have had you in my life and my kids. I know Reagan is going to miss not being able to make his little comments to you about Crystal Palace and he has mentioned to me that fishing won't be the same again, but I will do my best to teach him what you have taught me and get him out fishing more.

I am gutted you have gone but your memories and our love for you will always go on and I will never let you fade away.

You sleep well now mate. I love you and I will see you again.

It would be an honour and a privilege to stand here today and provide you all with 7 years' worth of the most wonderful history and memories that a shared- with Joe, and when I reflect on those times and the memories we've made, the ones that mean the most to me are not the ones of nights out, date nights, camping trips or holidays. They are the times where we were just at home together, doing the simplest things. Whether it be cooking dinner, playing the PlayStation, Harry Potter marathons, or DIY. I found myself just watching him, how happy and content he was in life and everything he'd achieved, and countless times I think "I'm just so proud of you!"

From the very beginning, you did everything for me. You understood my values, and you wanted the same things in life, but you knew it meant a lot of hard work and effort to achieve them. It was completely worth it in the end and proven by how happy it made you. I will never forget not only everything you did for me but also everything you did for Harry. You were so accepting of him and his need's and I really can't thank you enough for that. No one has ever accepted him like you did and the best part was that you were just yourself, and that's all I ever needed you to be. He says he will miss the pressies you buy him!

You were so many things to so many people, but to me you were everything! You were strong, passionate, determined and honest. You were also stubborn, argumentative and direct. You were my protector. You never rested until you knew I was safe and that's always how you made me feel. Your philosophy in life was to enjoy it, and I promise you that from now on that same philosophy will live on in me.

From the moment we met to the moment you left, I have no regrets, not a single one! There is nothing I would change or do differently, everything was perfect. It breaks my heart and hurts so much to think about my life without you in it, and it will take a very long time for me to get there, but a have to thank you Joe for the amazing people that through being with you have been brought into my life. together we will support each other in adjusting to a life without you, but I am certain there will never be a moment where you aren't there. There will always be a story, a memory, a moment, a reminder because you truly are just unforgettable.

Today is for everyone to say goodbye, but this is not at all how you deserved it. When we are finally able to live in a world where we aren't restricted by Covid and government we will come together again for you, and we will celebrate your life properly. You don't need me to stand here and talk about how much I loved you - you knew, everyone knew, and that's all that matters. My love, my life, forever yours.