Ryan Hawkins’s aunt joins charity that helped family after his murder

Dec 17 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

RYAN Hawkins’s aunt is giving something back to the charity that helped her family in the wake of the youngster’s murder.

Helen Beresford has joined The Joseph Salmon Trust as a trustee.

The trust, set up by Marsh couple Neil and Rachael Salmon, helps families who have lost children meet funeral and related costs.

Its first ever donation was to Ryan’s mum, Val Gee, after the four-year-old was stabbed to death by his father, Christopher Hawkins, in Slaithwaite on September 23, 2007.

Val and her daughters, Donna and Natalie, were given £500 by the trust towards the cost of a holiday in Florida as they came to terms with Ryan’s death.

Helen, who works as a funeral arranger at Slaithwaite Funeral Services, on Church Street, said: “I’m really proud to be joining the trust.

“They were amazing when we lost Ryan and I think the work they do is brilliant.

“People who have lost children don’t save for things like funerals. They are going through enough trauma to think about money. It’s a lot of stress.”

The Salmons founded the trust after their three-year-old son, Joseph, died of pneumonia in 2005.