A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND PAUL JEFFRIES BY DAVE S Here are a few areas where I know Paul had an active involvement. It was always a mystery to me how he packed so many things into his life! MUSIC Paul was a big music fan and I happen to know that his favourite rock music band was The Byrds. The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole consistent member. Although they only managed to attain the huge commercial success of contemporaries like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds are today considered by critics to be nearly as influential as those bands.Their signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar was "absorbed into the vocabulary of rock" and has continued to be influential. Paul was also very fond of jazz music and attended live sessions at various venues in Cardiff, especially the Amsterjazz performances at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on Fridays. SHEFFIELD UNITED ⚽️ Paul and I were both from Sheffield and have been avid ‘Blades’ fans all our lives. I was always amazed by his encyclopaedic knowledge of the club, it’s players and results going back for many years. We have both been heartened by the clubs success in the Premiership this season and have been exchanging texts after just about every game on their performances. Paul used to go and see them play during his visits to Sheffield and wherever they played near to South Wales. He was a fantastically committed supporter of the club. REAL ALE Like myself, Paul has been a member of The Campaign for Real Ales (CAMRA) for many years and it was always a joy to share a pint with him in a traditional pub such as The Blue Anchor. He would also search out real ale pubs when on union business at various locations throughout Wales in order to enjoy a pint there. We also liked to go to The Great Welsh Beer Festival in Cardiff every year for an afternoon session sampling many different brews and I shall be raising a glass to him in his honour at the next event in April. COMMUNITY AND CHARITY WORK Paul was always active in the community in his work as a school governor and the Labour Party in which he was a strong grass roots supporter. Along with his wife Janet, he also formed a charity aimed at providing support and advice via a telephone hotline to the parents of gay people who found it difficult to come to terms with the situation when their children had ‘come out’ as being gay. This went on for a number of years but eventually the charity was disbanded due to the decline in the number of calls received. Paul once remarked to me that he saw this as a positive thing as it indicated that being gay was no longer as much of a concern as it used to be and there was far more acceptance these days than there once was. AND FINALLY ......... The above facts about Paul sound a bit dry and don’t convey what for me was his most outstanding characteristic which is the fact that he was always great company with a wonderfully sardonic sense of humour. He will be greatly missed.