News & Star | Features | ‘Masses of people utterly adored this little guy and it was so heart-wrenching to see and feel all that love for him when we were, in the end, so powerless to do anything to help’

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‘Masses of people utterly adored this little guy and it was so heart-wrenching to see and feel all that love for him when we were, in the end, so powerless to do anything to help’

Published at 11:27, Monday, 09 January 2012

It all began in the land of Twitter, when a Cumbrian writer made friends with former TV-am presenter and Treasure Hunt adjudicator Wincey Willis.

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Tribute: Les Floyd from Corby Hill is interviewing celebrities all touched by the tragic but heart-warming story of Harry Moseley

Tribute: Les Floyd from Corby Hill is interviewing celebrities all touched by the tragic but heart-warming story of Harry Moseley

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That random starting point led to the planned publication of a book paying tribute to Harry Moseley, a boy from the Midlands who captured millions of hearts across the country.

The youngster inspired people with his courage and his energy. Despite being poorly himself Harry set up the Help Harry Help Others campaign, selling colourful beaded bracelets in the hope that he could raise enough money to find a cure for brain cancer.

Following his tragic death last Autumn, Les Floyd felt compelled to do something in his memory.

The blogger and prominent Tweeter from Corby Hill is hoping to publish a book in honour of Harry. Backed by Harry’s mother, Georgina, profits will go to Cancer Research UK, CLIC Sergent and a children’s hospice in the Midlands which provided support to Harry and his family.

“I first heard of Harry Moseley through an unlikely friendship I made on Twitter, with Wincey Willis,” Les explains. “I’m not exactly sure how we got chatting on there, but Wincey is such a lovely, funny woman and utterly mad – really one of the nicest people I’ve encountered online.

“She’s been a great supporter of Harry, counting both him and his mother as good friends. As I hadn’t heard of Harry until towards the end of his life, I never had a chance to swap words with him.

“I’m not a religious person, but as his condition deteriorated I published a blog asking for a flood of prayers, well-wishes, positive thought, Reiki/energy healing… anything was worth a try.

“That further introduced me to masses of people who utterly adored this little guy and it was so heart-wrenching to see and feel all that love for him when we were, in the end, so powerless to do anything to help.”

Les describes the outpouring of love and grief as “extraordinary” and wanted to do something to help see Harry’s legacy endure. The idea of putting a book together soon came to him, featuring tributes from people Harry had inspired, both celebrities and members of the public.

Les put his plan into motion just before Christmas and has received a written tribute from Sarah Brown, and sports stars and celebrities including Gary Lineker, Frank Lampard, Duncan Bannatyne, Amanda Holden and Ben Shephard have agreed to take part.

“I think the number of celebrities participating will be in the dozens. The book will be a mix of these celebrity tributes, short stories from famous and not-so-famous authors, plus anecdotes about Harry, from his mother.

“Georgie Allen – PA to Max Clifford – has been an incredible help, effectively opening up Max’s address book in support of the project, which has allowed me to get in touch with just about everyone I’d like to become involved. But I’m not randomly targeting celebrities for the sake of it, all of these people have had close contact with Harry.”

Les says he’s currently arranging a number of face to face interviews and will travel to London at the end of the month to meet Gary Lineker and Ben Shephard.

He adds: “I’ll also be spending time with Wincey Willis, who’s a huge supporter of Harry and a close friend of his mother – and she is allowing us to search through all the letters and cards she received since Harry’s passing, so we can take quotes and tributes to sprinkle through the book.

“At some point in the next few months, I’ll also be interviewing Georgie, but there’s the sensitivity of making sure the time is right for her to talk.”

Working with the written word is not new to Les. He suffered from depression for more than 20 years and started writing about his experiences online two years ago.

“Two years ago I was as depressed as I ever have been, but now it’s gone.

“I’ve actually found a cure for something that I thought was incurable, and, of course, I want to help as many people as I can rid themselves of depression, too. It’s achievable and I know this because I’m living this life. I’m happy.

“My awakening was extraordinary. I’ve never been religious and had only a passing interest in the spiritual nature of life – then, one morning, in the midst of another bout of deep depression something happened… like a light switching on in my head.

“Awareness of the living moment gives you the ability to differentiate between the thoughts in your head and the reality of life.”

His blog www.lesism.blogspot. com – where he talks candidly about his depression and his ‘awakening’, as well as subjects such as the summer riots, Jeremy Clarkson and terrorism – has had more than 250,000 views and his Twitter following stands at 57,807.

“Twitter has been an invaluable help in promoting my writing.

“It’s awe-inspiring to consider that I can publish a blog on there and have it immediately accessible to people right across the planet – I have people reading my words in more than 120 countries, across all continents except Antarctica.

“It reinforces that we’re all very much the same the world over, and behind the mask of ego we all want the same thing in our lives: peace and happiness.”

These days life is good for Les.

“My life has changed almost beyond recognition. I have an excellent little office at Warwick Mill business park.

“I’m in the start-up phase of building my own business, centred around my writing and it’s going far better than I could have dreamt of.”

The 37-year-old admits the tribute book is a huge undertaking and is yet to secure a publisher, but is hopeful it will be published in 2013 on Harry’s birthday, February 22.

He adds: “Harry made so many friends; genuine, enduring friendships with celebrities who worked with him at charity events, and many who visited him privately in hospital.

“Not for photo opportunities but because they were compelled by love, and these people were devastated when they heard of his passing.

“They’ve mourned him, and I think that’s testament to just how exceptional Harry’s short visit to this world was.”

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