In honour of Kevin

Friday August 27, 2010

Family and friends paid a heartfelt tribute to one of the Masbro Centre’s young volunteers last week, who died after a long battle with sickle cell anaemia.

The West Kensington centre hosted a special tribute last Friday in honour of Kevin Samine, of Hammersmith, who passed away on July 25 aged just
20.

Kevin’s mother, brother, twin sister, nephew and aunt all visited the Masbro, where the popular youngster had joined as a youth club member seven years ago and progressed to become a youth volunteer and apprentice mechanic.

His twin sister Greta Samine, 20, told h&f news: “Kevin was caring and loving. He was also a great uncle to my son.”

Greta, who lives in south London with her son Jahzyhia, two, said she had watched Kevin confront his own childhood problems and ‘grow up’ since becoming a volunteer and youth mentor at the Masbro.

“He was kicked out of school and had a temper, don’t get me wrong, but he grew up at the Masbro and learned to deal with his anger and talk about his feelings more.

“And he always enjoyed working with kids. There is no one better to mentor a child than the person who came here themselves as a child.”

A month after losing her twin brother she said she had been left feeling numb and struggling to accept the reality of her loss.

“It feels like a daze,” she said. “It’s difficult to accept the fact I will never see him again.”

Kevin attended the Bridge Academy in Fulham and had lived with his mum Chantal Chirezi and older brother Jason Samine in Black Lion Lane, Hammersmith, for the past six years.

He began work as a volunteer at the Masbro five years ago, helping out with the after-school youth club.

He embarked on an apprenticeship as a mechanic last November as part of a mini motorbike project at the centre, before being forced to quit in January as his illness worsened.

Jason, 22, said: “Kevin was a bright young person who had a lot of passion for other people. When he started working at the Masbro I saw the change in him. He started taking responsibility and started growing into an adult.

“I just want people to know he had a special place for the Masbro in his heart, and I hope the people here had a special place for him. This is a great loss to all of us.”

Mum Chantal, 45, said simply: “He was always helping people and was so welcoming. And he really loved children.”

Kevin’s popularity was shown at his funeral and wake on August 19, which drew a crowd of more than 300 people to Mortlake Crematorium and the Bridge Academy.

Centre director Andy Sharpe, 53, said: “We have lost a member of the Masbro family. And it’s only now he is gone that people will realise quite how much he did.”

Andy said the centre’s summer party, which also took place on Friday, helped to raise more than £200 which will go to Kevin’s family.