Its our aim to provide safety equipment along the River Thames
buoys and signs of awareness.
With so many deaths over the years we believe now is the time so start helping as a whole community. Please support us
As the friends of Kyrece Francis
who were with him the day he passed away
He will forever be in all of our hearts.
Thank you all for the Pledges made for Kyrece's Legacy
22nd July 2014, the first day of the school summer holidays, was a hot sunny beautiful day. My 13 year old son, Kyrece Francis, and 17 friends decided to find a secluded spot where they could play football, listen to music and cool off in a shallow River. They settled in a large field alongside The River Thames that had a sandy bay which looked really shallow. They were having so much fun. Some of the children including my son ventured out to swim to a central island, this is when my son Kyrece got into difficulties in the water. Many attempts were made by his friends to rescue him but my son tragically lost his life. There are no signs warning people not to swim and no warnings about the hidden under currents, no safety equipment nearby.
Our lives have been turned upside down, we have lost our beautiful son, we are devastated. Kyrece was a beautiful kind boy, with a huge bubbly personality. He was always full of life with a huge infectious smile. Kyrece was very popular, he had friends in all walk of life. Kyrece played for a local under 14s football team and also trained with a local football academy, football was his passion. Kyrece supported Chelsea FC. Kyrece attended Great Marlow School and had only been a pupil for 9 months as we had just moved to the area, he quickly became settled and popular with both pupils and teachers. Previously he attended Highcrest Academy and Disraeli Middle School. As you can imagine he had lots and lots of friends. Kyrece's tragic accident was reported nationally, it was also reported by local media and by a local radio station.
My son’s death not only shocked us, his family and friends but shocked the whole community. An aunt of Kyrece's friend quickly set up a Just Giving page to raise money to go towards placing water safety equipment where my son passed away. With so many deaths over the years in the River Thames Kyrece’s friends wanted to prevent this happening to anyone else. The target set on the Just Giving page was £2000, within 24 hours that target had been smashed. 30 days later to our surprise we had reached over £13,000. Events were held locally in his memory and to raise money, this included a charity car wash which was held by Beaconsfield Fire Station, a charity football match organised by both of his football teams and money donated by many local businesses. Over 700 people attended Kyrece’s funeral, the roads were closed by the police so that the procession could walk behind my son to our local church, his send off was beautiful, so many people came to pay their respects. We are truly moved by the support we received.
Myself and some parents have now come together and are in the process of setting up a charity called Kyrece’s Legacy. It is our aim to work with the local council to provide safety equipment along the River Thames, not just where my son passed away but from Marlow Higginson Park down to the river banks in Bourne End, we are hoping to install lifesaving safety equipment and signs of awareness warning people not to swim and about the hidden under currents. We intend to promote water safety drowning prevention education for children, teens and their families by collaborating with local schools to implement water safety curriculum in the classroom. We are currently working with Glasdon who are designing 20 B-Line safety equipment housing units for us to place along the river bank with Wycombe District Council about maintaining all of the safety equipment. In the future we would like to work with other local council boroughs to site more safety equipment. The community fund from Aviva will be used to support our plans and to strengthen our charity, it will be used for water safety equipment and educations in schools. We Now have Aviva’s support to help to make our project a success. This is something our whole community and beyond will benefit from. 
Our lives have been turned upside down, we have lost our beautiful son, we are devastated. Kyrece was a beautiful kind boy, with a huge bubbly personality. He was always full of life with a huge infectious smile. Kyrece was very popular, he had friends in all walk of life. Kyrece played for a local under 14s football team and also trained with a local football academy, football was his passion. Kyrece supported Chelsea FC. Kyrece attended Great Marlow School and had only been a pupil for 9 months as we had just moved to the area, he quickly became settled and popular with both pupils and teachers. Previously he attended Highcrest Academy and Disraeli Middle School. As you can imagine he had lots and lots of friends. Kyrece's tragic accident was reported nationally, it was also reported by local media and by a local radio station.
My son’s death not only shocked us, his family and friends but shocked the whole community. An aunt of Kyrece's friend quickly set up a Just Giving page to raise money to go towards placing water safety equipment where my son passed away. With so many deaths over the years in the River Thames Kyrece’s friends wanted to prevent this happening to anyone else. The target set on the Just Giving page was £2000, within 24 hours that target had been smashed. 30 days later to our surprise we had reached over £13,000. Events were held locally in his memory and to raise money, this included a charity car wash which was held by Beaconsfield Fire Station, a charity football match organised by both of his football teams and money donated by many local businesses. Over 700 people attended Kyrece’s funeral, the roads were closed by the police so that the procession could walk behind my son to our local church, his send off was beautiful, so many people came to pay their respects. We are truly moved by the support we received.
Myself and some parents have now come together and are in the process of setting up a charity called Kyrece’s Legacy. It is our aim to work with the local council to provide safety equipment along the River Thames, not just where my son passed away but from Marlow Higginson Park down to the river banks in Bourne End, we are hoping to install lifesaving safety equipment and signs of awareness warning people not to swim and about the hidden under currents. We intend to promote water safety drowning prevention education for children, teens and their families by collaborating with local schools to implement water safety curriculum in the classroom.
