A very sad day and a huge loss.

Shelley was with Lee on his final journey home today, here's the update from Darren (Lee's cousin) for those who haven't seen it:

Update 14th November 2008 at 00:26hrs....

Both Charles and myself are now back from a very long and difficult 3 days in Malaga. Mat is now in the UK to which he flew this afternoon with his friend Stuart. He has some brusing through whiplash but apart from being deeply upset, is in good sprits and should hopefully recover from his injurys soon.

There were six of us out there trying to sort legal bits out and I feel the other four should be thanked for all the hard work and effort. Shelley, Claire, Yuki and Sam (aka Mr Sleek) have been like rocks for Charles and I. We had funny moments, sad moments and bonding moments to which I will never forget. I will always have a place for them in my heart for what they have done for us.

There is so much I would love to put up here but due to legal reasons I can not say too much regarding what happened or how it happened and I hope you guys understand that. Hopefully oneday in the not too distance future I can reveal all but for now I can only give these comforting words (if there is such a thing right now.)

Lee was asleep in the back of the car and would not have known anything when it happened. It was instant so he never suffered, is that comforting? Maybe in a way yes but we all know that we wished he would have woken up...

Today (our last day there) we all went to the sceen where the accident happened, questions might be raised as to why we had not done this at the start but we wanted to make sure we had the location correct. Flowers were laid for Lee's Mother and Father, some for his family and some for all of his thousands of friends.

I cant explaine the emotions we all went through and the only word that comes into my mind is powerful. We then had a two hour wait while Lee was prepared for a visit.

When we got back to the car we were all in a quite mood and not much was spoken but decided to head to a beach that we thought Lee would have liked. We stood at the edge of the water and held a minutes silence for Lee and then me and Charles stripped off to our shorts and jumped in, just like Lee would have. It lifted us a little and it felt like Lee was laughing with us.

We visited Lee a little while later and I will be honest here, he looked beautiful, like he was asleep and having the most amazing dreams. I knew then that we were going to get him back home and it looked like he had a little cheeky smile on his face.

The situation now is that Charles and I have still so much to do and decided that our work was done in Malaga. Lee was going to be home by the weekend and that lifted our sprits.

Sam had to leave for a flight back before us so we had an emotional good bye then a cheeky smile on his departure into the Taxi. At this point we received the news that Lee would be flying home Friday afternoon!!!!

So that is were we stand now, Shelley, Yuki and Claire are going to fly with him so he will not be on his own, and we all know Lee don't do flying too well so knowing that he has three amazing ladies with him would put that smile back on his face.

The next steps, well lots of decisions are now going to be made but all in due course. I will keep you updated on when where and how its going to unfold.

We thankyou all for being there for support which has really helped out when things were not going to plan.

I wish Shelley,Yuki and Claire a safe trip home with Lee.

More updates will follow xx Darren xx
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Without going into the detail of the location, it has been announced that Lee's funeral is going to be in the afternoon (UK time) of Tuesday 25 November followed by a non-salsa/dance celebration of his life. The salsa/dance celebration event(s) will be organised later.

In case someone reading this is not on Facebook/part of the Facebook page setup for Lee, his dancer partner Shelley and Susana Montero are collecting photos, flyers and video footage to present to Lee's family. If you have anything that you would like to share (and I presume, dates and location would be very helpful), then do say. Oh, and if you are not part of Facebook, they are collating comments/what people have written about Lee, to present to his family also.
 
Pacion said:
Without going into the detail of the location:
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From Lee's facebook page "in remembrance to lee wright, salsa dance champion for the uk" which currently has 3,527 members...

Memorial Service
"Firstly, Lee’s family and friends would like to thank you all for your overwhelming response and support. It has been a great comfort. We are focusing on arranging the best possible remembrance, for everyone to talk about and share what he meant to each of us. There will be a church service followed by a celebration of his life, both of which will be open to everyone. We hope that friends from throughout every part of Lee’s life can come along to share his day.

Lee’s church service will be held close to his family’s home in Kent at St Mark's Church, Tunbridge Wells TN2 5LT. The service will start at 1300.

St Mark's Church is 5 minutes' drive from Tunbridge Wells station (45 minutes from London Bridge, trains every 30 minutes).

Details on the celebration of his life, later on the same day, will be sent as a separate event, so that we can gauge numbers. Please feel free to attend both or simply one of these, as you wish.

We hope to gain an accurate idea of numbers attending as soon as possible so would appreciate your response, preferably by Wednesday 19th November. If you are aware of any more of Lee's friends that are not a member of this group, please encourage them to join so they can too can be invited. We will also be sending this information out via other methods for non-facebook users.

We would like the dress code for Lee’s Day to be Bright and Smart, just like him… Preferably no black thank you."

Celebration of Lee's Life
"We would like this to be a unique, remarkable event for a unique, remarkable person.

Everybody who loved Lee will have the chance to contribute if they would like to, such as a reading, a poem, a song, or simply telling us what Lee meant to you. Please see below on how to contact us for that.

Please feel free to attend for as little or as much time as you would like. The celebration venue will be available all afternoon and evening after his Church Service.

This will not be a salsa event. We will hold other events to dance for Lee, in different locations around the UK, so that everyone can do something in their own way, when the time is right. This celebration will be our chance to talk about Lee, to see pictures and photos of him throughout his life, to remember the fun and laughter he gave to us all, and bring together all the people who love him.

We understand that it may not be possible for you all to make it on the day. Please be assured that this will not be the only event we will hold for Lee and there will be other opportunities. If you prefer, send us some words that we can either pass on to Lee’s family, or print out, or read out on the day. Every email, facebook post or other message that we have received will be printed and made into a book for his family and others.

**Please bring along one favourite photograph of you with Lee or one that holds special meaning for you, we will all be writing a message on the back for Lee or his family on the day**

*Participating*
We hope to take the time for everyone that wishes to, to be able to say something in their own way. Please let us know in advance if you would like to participate in the ceremony, so that we can accommodate as many friends as possible.
We would prefer to hear from you by Wednesday evening (19th November) so that we have time to plan everything accordingly.
Please either email us on:
celebratinglee @yahoo.co.uk

*Location*
This venue holds a special significance, because Lee had performed here and considered it a beautiful location.
http:// www. salomonscentre.org.uk/location.php

*Time*
Following Lee's church service, which will finish at around 1430.

*Transport*
Salomons is approximately 10 minutes' drive from Tunbridge Wells Train Station (around 45 minutes from London Bridge, trains every 30 minutes)
We hope to provide transport between the church and Salomons - to be confirmed.

*Dress Code*
We would like the dress code for Lee’s day to be Bright and Smart, just like him… Preferably no black thank you.

Thank you all for your support and kind words about Lee. The astonishing response has truly demonstrated how much he was loved and appreciated by all who knew him.

3:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:
Salomons
Street:
Broomhill Road, Southborough, TN3 0TG
City/Town:
Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom"
 
Amanda, perhaps it is my highly cautious side when it comes to the internet and the very public nature of it, I deliberately did not post the location details. If someone really wanted to know, they could have gone to Facebook or asked for further information. Whilst the Facebook group is open to anyone to join, I did not want to make it easy for 'persons with time on their hands' to know the location and came and cause trouble at what is supposed to be a 'sad happy time'.

Pacion
 
I really don't think that the day/time/venue for the actual funeral will be known to many except Lee's family and closest friends, please don't worry Pacion, the details Amanda posted are supposed to be passed on to anyone who may be interested in attending his memorial service, at Shelley's request.
 
The tribute at GBSEx was so moving, it was perfect for Lee, after Emma read beautiful words from Shelley, instead of a minute's silence they had a minute of clapping, cheering and stamping of feet for him. There were some amazing performances at GBSEx but without doubt Lee got the biggest round of applause all weekend :D
 
Ahhh, that sounds fab. It must have been incredibly strange and hard for Shelley, but also comforting, being around so many people that shw would normally have her "Lee and" with her.

I like this recent innovation of a minute's cheering and clapping rather than a minute's silence. It's too easy for silence to be disrupted (especially somewhere like a sports game) and it would hardly be apt in Lee's case, would it? He was many many things, but silent was not one of them.
 
KP-salsa said:
I like this recent innovation of a minute's cheering and clapping rather than a minute's silence. It's too easy for silence to be disrupted (especially somewhere like a sports game) and it would hardly be apt in Lee's case, would it? He was many many things, but silent was not one of them.
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:lol: I would harzard a guess that he was the 'original' Duracell Bunny! :lol:
 
I’m only recently back from being abroad and was gutted to hear this news.

I did a couple of terms at the LDA, with Lee as my instructor and what everyone says about him is so true. Using one of his favourite words he was indeed ‘fabulous’ and despite being one of the stars of the UK scene and constantly in demand, he always had time for people.
I must have been one out of dozens of students he was teaching at any one time, but we had a series of email exchanges where he helped me work out some of my dancing problems. Considering he barely knew me, the speed at which he replied and the level of detail he went into was way beyond the call of duty.
 
Lee's funeral filled the church completely and people came from around the country to be there. His musician friends performed several numbers before and during the service.
The celebration of his life afterwards was very moving. His school friends talked about him and showed a video. One of his salsa friends sang, and a few read poetry. Later we released balloons; in the perfectly clear night they floated off in the direction of Orion.

Nothing could replace Lee, but I thought the day was a lovely way of affirming how we felt about him.
 
Lee Wright (MamboBoy21) Fundraising Event 17 January, Central London

Shelley has asked me to post the following info, regarding a tribute event for Lee Wright (SalsaForums' own 'MamboBoy21') who I'm sure you know died recently.

"We would like to invite you all to help us to celebrate Lee's life together on the salsa dancefloor. We have made provisional arrangements for SATURDAY 17TH JANUARY, for a salsa fundraising night in Central London. Further details are to follow but we would like to make you aware of the date for now.

We understand this is relatively short notice, so if you cannot make it on the day we will all work together to have events across the UK so that our whole salsa family can be involved in our tribute to Lee.
We will provide further details as soon as possible.

Many thanks, Shelley x"

I'll post further details as soon as possible.
 
Event update:

Hello everyone,

We would like to invite you all to help us to celebrate Lee's life together on the salsa dancefloor.

We hope many of you can join us on the day, or at our other supporting events around the UK. Please see below for all the details of what we hope will be a sparkling, positive celebration of our gorgeous Lee!

Love Shelley x


SALSA WITH A SMILE FOR LEE
Official London Tribute Night
Saturday 17 January 2009
7:30pm - 2am

Lee Wright will always be a shining star within our salsa family. Please join us to celebrate his life with a fabulous, sparkling evening of shows, lessons and fun fundraising among friends. Lee will always dance in our hearts and bring us together!

• 3 rooms of music
• Wooden dancefloors and aircon
• Central London location
• Student Union priced drinks.

Dress: Glam & Gorgeous!!

Location: “The Venue” at ULU, London WC1E 7HY
cnr Malet Street & Torrington Place (side entrance),

Tickets £15 all night (additional donations gratefully received). All performers, teachers, DJs and helpers have donated their time so every possible penny you donate goes to this special cause. 100% of all proceeds will go into a fund, which will be used by Lee's family in the way he would have wished.

----------

7:45pm - 8.45pm: CLASSES taught by Miguel and Mayana, Sam Mr Sleek and Frank Santos.
Improvers/Intermediate Salsa, Advanced Salsa and Bachata.

8.45pm PROMPT - 2am Club night and dancing kicked off by Julian 'The Duke'

11.30pm, 12.30pm – Its showtime!

SHOWS by Anke and Gil (Austria/Mexico) Eva and Mauro, Mamboleo, Miriam and Colleen, Mambata, Element Dance Company, Fahrenheit and Lee’s student groups from Newbury and Brighton… all of whom are delighted to donate their efforts for your entertainment in support of our Gorgeous Lee.

MUSIC: 3 rooms of music to suit all tastes including 'Lee's Dance Floor'. DJs include DJ Andre (Holland), DJ Cruz, Julian the Duke, Gary Thomas, James Barton, Chunky, Julian Summers, Tony Ridges, Anthony Hurlock, DJ Rich, DJ Paul and Big Les.

GIANT RAFFLE with prizes including passes to the Todo Latino Athens Salsa Congress, Egypt Salsa Congress and Zurich Salsa Festival, Alex Wilson CDs, Salsa DVDs, Burju shoes vouchers, Steps Dance Shoes, Back2Toes vouchers, a year's free entry to LDA and Salsa Chillout parties, salsa course at LDA, full passes to the Latin Collective Minifest and more…

Wispa AUCTION for a dance with your choice of teacher/performer

KARAOKE at the end of the night on 'Lee's Dance Floor'

Photography by Kerry Smith

Travelling to ULU:
http://www.barflyclub.com/ulu/info/ulu/directions.aspx
“The Venue” at University of London Union
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HY

Travelling to ULU by tube:
• Northern Line to Euston, Warren Street and Goodge Street stations.
• Piccadilly Line to Russell Square station.
• Victoria Line to Euston and Warren Street stations.
• Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines to Euston Square station.

Travelling to ULU by bus:
• Gower Street 10, 24, 29, 73, 134, 390
• Euston Road 18, 30, 91, 205, 253, 476
• Woburn Place/Southampton Row 59, 68, 91, 168, 188

Further information:
Email:
Susana on [email protected]
Or [email protected]
Telephone:
Rowan on 0845 6442642
Facebook Group:
In Remembrance to Lee Wright Salsa Dance Champion for the UK

OTHER SUPPORTING EVENTS ON THE SAME NIGHT IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT TO LONDON:
Scottish Congress
http://www.scottishsalsacongress.co.uk/
StrictlySalsa Conga Club Special
http://www.strictlysalsa.uk.com/
RedHotRed Salsa Spirella Party Night
http://www.redhotred.co.uk/
 
I did not know Lee, but I am saddened by the loss of such an amazing human being and dancer- I am very inspired by what he has done with his life and how he treated everyone with so much friendliness and compassion. I will be there in spirit at Lee's tribute night- and be inspired by his energy for life and dancing.
 
TrulyMadlyAmanda said:
Sorry to bring this up, but just had to say how very much Lee dying sucks and we all miss him. :( :(
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Just yesterday I was talking to somebody about him. My friend had just discovered the famous clip with SuperMario and was inspired to work on his spinning (as so many have felt including me). Lee is still remembered and still inspires people to dance.
 
Yes the world would smile more if he was still around.

I too thought of him the other day as I was watching a show and remembered how lovely he and Shelley were to watch.
 
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