A PUZZLE enthusiast from Barry is launching a new weekly club where volunteers will attempt to put together an enormous Disney-themed jigsaw containing 40,320 pieces which will be put on display at Tŷ Hafan hospice in Sully when completed.
The project is being launched by Graham Underdown, 71, and will be held every Friday evening, 7pm to 10pm in a room at Barry West End Club. The first Friday is scheduled for 17th March.
The giant jigsaw cost £403 and was donated by Mark Barrett, owner of RIM Motors and chairman of Barry Town United FC.
Members of the public are welcome to attend for a weekly fee of £1, which will be donated to Tŷ Hafan.
The jigsaw consists of 10 individual puzzles of approximately 4,000 pieces, each representing a different Disney film such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Dumbo.
Graham is looking forward to beginning the mammoth task, which he expects will take around a year to complete, and he says the project will bring together people of all ages: “The jigsaw is 22-and-a-half feet long and six feet six inches wide – I do wonder whether Tŷ Hafan have a wall long enough to hang it from!
“There’s a very big social element to the project. People can turn up and talk about puzzles and swap jigsaws with each other.
“I have 83 puzzles in my garage at the moment, some of which were donated by customers from my days as a Post Office manager, and right now at home I’m attempting to put a very colourful 1,000 piece jigsaw called The Craft Cupboard.
“At our Friday night club, we’ll also have simpler puzzles for children in case they get bored. Once it’s finished, I hope it will bring some joy to the children at Tŷ Hafan,” he said.
The project is the latest in a very long line of charity fundraisers undertaken by Graham, who has raised awareness and money for Barnardo’s, Guide Dogs For The Blind and the British Heart Foundation as well as Tŷ Hafan.
Graham is originally from Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent and he first came to south Wales to attend an injection moulding course in 1982, but he soon settled in the area after meeting Jean, who became the love of his life. After many years together, they married in 1998 and are enjoying their retirement in Barry.
His charitable endeavours have included four London Marathons, 49 half marathons and 351 ten kilometre runs.
In 2012, Graham was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List for his charity fundraising and for becoming the first person in Wales to make 800 platelet donations: “It all began for me at the age of 18 when I worked for Kent County Council.
“I went into work one morning to clock on and there was a poster on the wall advertising a blood donation session, and I took no notice of it.
“At tea break, I saw that all the apprentices had put their names up to donate – I asked them about it and they said it was great, because you get half a day off work, tea and biscuits, and you get have a lie down for half-an-hour, so I decided I’d have some of that!
“I eventually switched to becoming a platelet donor at the Welsh Blood Service centre in Llantrisant. They calculate each session can help save or improve the lives of three adults or 12 children.
“I kept going after being awarded the MBE but sadly I had to give up donating platelets a few years ago because of medication I’m now taking for a heart condition,” he said.
The majority of platelet donations are used to help people receiving treatment for cancer, while other recipients include those undergoing organ transplant and babies who require intensive treatment.
Graham’s platelet donations were also recognised at a ceremony held by the Welsh Blood Service, where he was presented with an award by Falklands War hero Simon Weston, who needed between 600-700 pints of blood over a 10-year period as he recovered from his serious injuries following the 1982 conflict.
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