James D Simmons

James is our dearly missed Son and my best friend.

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A brief history & Video.

James Simmons(18 yrs old) and his friend Coz tragically lost their lives (through no fault of their own) in a traffic collision on the 7th December 2014. James was killed instantly and it has torn the lives of our family apart. He was our only son and the last in the Simmons line.

James was a loving caring young man. His passion from a very early age was music, he played in many bands and groups of musicians.  This led him into playing for charitable work through “Colchester & District Pipes & Drums”.

  • lee Rigby memorial march in Woolwich.
  • Help For Heroes
  • SSAFA Charity
  • The War Widows March” at the Cenotaph in london.
  • The slow march massed pipes and drums, John Frost bridge, Arnhem.

He also played with “Colchester & District Pipes & Drums” around the world Holland, Italy, & Sweden to name but three.

  • Help For Heroes
    Lee Rigby Memorial March

Music was his life, he was skilled in playing multiple instruments, piano (classical), guitar (both lead & bass) keyboard, Drums inc highland side drum and bagpipes.
Providing Bass at a Sound Academy Gig.

Helped many to play instruments and gain confidence at his college  and sound academy (a local charity funded music workshop).

£900.00 raised from donations at James funeral  has been used to provide the college music dept, in which he studied and a local charity (Sound Academy) with instruments and breakables.
£222.22 was also raised for air ambulance at the college memorial concert.

James had many friends , this became clear  at his funeral which had 400 plus in attendance.
He was given a guard of honour and standard by the Royal British Legion and Tabor Academy for his help with charity events.

James goal was to become a studio session musician, owning his own professional  studio for youngsters to come and practice in a safe environment.
Many times he would bring people home to practice in our dining room or his bedroom and often spoke about wishing he had a soundproof area for them all to use.
No matter what age they were, this is his Nan.

 

James still got to go on a world tour, with his favourite band.

Bullet for my Valentine

They agreed to take the ashes of James & Coz on tour in the states. Necklaces were made for their remains and sent to the group. This featured in NME magazine.

BFMV ashes pic

“In December, two young Bullet for My Valentine fans lost their lives in a car crash, but the pair will get the ultimate send-off from the band they loved this summer(2015). The group has agreed to take specially crafted jewelry holding the ashes of the youths with them as they tour the States and Canada this summer.

Matt Tuck, “It’ll make the family a little bit happy in a bad situation. I can’t even imagine dealing with that, so anything we can do to help, it’s not even a question.” The band will wear necklaces that contain the ashes, Tuck says guitarist Michael “Padge” Paget volunteered to take BFMVresponsibility for transporting the remains. “Padge has actually got them at his house. I haven’t seen anything yet.”

 

RIP James, until we meet again.

 

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