Founder Colin Bell reflects on charity’s proud legacy

LAST Thursday, Colin Bell might have been in Omagh – but this was only his latest stop-off on an almost-perpetual donation-collecting circuit of Ireland.

In the seven days before visiting the county town, the Newry man had travelled to Waterford, Cushendall, Derry, Cork, Ballymena, Randalstown and Navan, all to collect money on behalf of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.

“It never stops,” he said, just after accepting a £35,000 cheque raised by Omagh Wheelers in memory of late local cyclist, Aran Sheridan.

“In July past we brought back 35 bodies from overseas. In August we repatriated the remains of 32 people. It is at least one a day now,” Mr Bell said.

In a frank and to-the-point conversation, the retired school teacher explained the origins of the trust, its purpose and its fundamental ethos.

“When our son Kevin lost his life at just 26 in New York back in 2013, there was a huge fundraising effort to bring his body home. Within a week of his death, the people of Newry had raised £150,000. His repatriation was one of the quickest I’ve ever heard of. He died on the Sunday and was being waked in our house on the Wednesday,” Mr Bell said.

Bringing a body home from a foreign shores is expensive. The costliest repatriation the Trust ever financed was around £20,000. From Australia, it usually costs around £10,000. From Europe it is normally about half that.

“It is not cheap. But, even after bringing Kevin home, we had a lot of that £150,000 left over.

“Soon after, we heard of a young fella who died in Thailand. We decided to contact the family and tell them that we would pay to have his body brought home. And that was really the start of it,” Mr Bell said.

Since that, the Trust has brought home the remains of 1,937 people. In Tyrone alone, it has repatriated 75 remains.

“After that, the thing kind of took on a life of its own. It became less about us helping everyone and more about one family helping the next.

“Take tonight, for example. I am here to receive a cheque of £35,000 from the friends, family and club mates of Aran Sheridan, who is clearly so well-remembered.

“These people feel like we have helped them, so now they want to help others.

“It is all about community. I am 71 and that is why I am not scared of stepping away from my current role in the Trust. It has a life of its own now. I know that families will go on helping other families,” Mr Bell said.

Through the good work done by the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, the foundation has not only succeeded in keeping alive the name of the young man after which it is named, but the memory of every man, woman, boy and girl who it has returned to their homeland.

It is a way for bereaved families not only to receive financial and emotional support, but to then use their experience to offer that same helping to others.

In years gone by, families often got themselves into heavy debt trying to pay for the return of their loved ones. In some cases, where the money could not be found, families had to leave their loved ones to be buried where they died.

Colin concluded, “Thankfully, with the help of the Trust, no family on this island need go through any of that anymore. I am proud that Kevin’s name is part of that change. It means he did not die for nothing.”