The family of a “bubbly and class clown” window cleaner are holding a charity football match and funday in his memory to raise money for PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide.

Robert Davies sadly took his own life on Tuesday, November 30, following his battle with depression.

The father-of-two, who had been living with his mum Rachel Davies in Crickhowell at the time of his death, had been on holiday to Blackpool only a week before he passed away.

Rachel, who lives with her 14-year-old daughter, said: “I get up and there’s that split moment when you open your eyes and forget that it’s real. I just don’t want to believe it, it’s so hard. I don’t know how any mum deals with this.

“He was a class clown - bubbly and full of life. He was the sort of person that could walk into a room where he wouldn’t know anybody and he’d walk out knowing everybody.

“He just had this really bubbly personality and he would speak to everybody. We all loved him.”

The Sunday Funday, which has been organised by Rachel along with her daughters Parisse and Autumn and her niece Danielle, will take place at 2pm on Sunday, July 24.

Hosted by Crickhowell Football Pitch, the funday promises the charity football match along with a bouncy castle, bar, burgers, ice cream, raffles, face painting, children’s games and more.

Tickets cost £5 each, but all the proceeds will go to PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide in Robert’s name.

Robert was well known and loved by his community prior to his death.

He had created his own successful window cleaning business in Brecon - through the pandemic, he made show he maintained contact with his older customers who he was worried may otherwise be lonely.

“I used to ask him how he made any money because he used to go and sit drinking coffee with his customers”, Rachel said.

“He told me ’for some of them, I’m the only person they’ve seen all week. I like to make the time so that they’ve got someone to look forward to seeing.

“He was such a nice person and he was a wonderful dad. His business meant he could work around the children, and he took them to school, picked them up, went from school and took them shopping, and he always cooked because he was an absolutely brilliant cook. He did everything for them.

“A lot of parents will say their kids are amazing fathers, but he really was. He was a brilliant dad and he always put his children first.

In the days before Robert’s death, he had enjoyed a holiday to Blackpool and his grandmother’s birthday party.

Rachel said that Robert and his children had spent the birthday party laughing as he had bought his nan prank birthday candles which kept relighting when she and the children attempted to blow them out.

“I thought he was happy,” Rachel said as she explained that they thought his mental condition had improved.

On the morning of Robert’s death, Rachel phoned the doctor as he had told her that he wanted to take his life and that he “couldn’t do it anymore” the night before.

The 33-year-old had previously reached out for help for his mental health, but, was told that the only support available was for his alcohol dependency despite allegedly telling health professionals that he had felt suicidal previously.

Rachel said that he was told he would have to stop drinking before he would be able to have help for his depression.

“He drank because he was depressed. He was masking it [depression] by drinking and then he couldn’t get help while he was drinking and so it was this whole vicious cycle because he wouldn’t stop drinking because he was depressed.”

Robert had also previously been to hospital for his mental health, but, had been discharged after being evaluated by staff.

On the morning of his death, Rachel was dropping her grandson off at school and she had been worried about him leaving the house as he had been drinking.

She was relieved when she returned to the house to see his car still outside and that he hadn’t gone anywhere.

“I came in and he was upstairs in the bedroom, or I assumed he was there because he used to go upstairs and lie in bed when he was sad.”

Rachel had just put the phone down to the doctor when she heard a knock at the door - when she answered it from the mother of one of Robert’s friends.

Robert had rang his friend, who did not live locally, and expressed that he was suicidal - after trying to deter his friend from travelling, his friend sent his mother who didn’t live too far away to see if he was okay.

It was not long after she arrived that the police attended the address.

“I was just heading upstairs to check on him and the police came and they were knocking on the door.

“They said Robert’s ex-partner had contacted them to say she was worried about Robert because he had told her he wanted to kill himself.

“They were trying to push the door open to go in his bedroom - he was only in a little box room.

“They couldn’t open the door and I was telling him ‘Robert, open the door’ because I thought he was sat behind the door and not letting them in. Then the cat came out and I thought ‘she’s pulled the carpet up so obviously you can’t get in there’.”

After finally getting into the bedroom, Rachel called an ambulance as the police officers tried to revive Robert.

Rachel said: “I was on the phone to the ambulance and it was just like slow motion that day. It just didn’t seem real. I would never have left him if I’d known”

The heartbroken mother said that she thought he would survive as emergency services were giving him oxygen and working on him for a while before she was told he had died.

After Robert’s death, the family struggled to receive specialist support.

Rachel said that two police officers attended the address with a booklet on how to cope after a suicide, but that the whole experience had been quite uncomfortable.

Following his death, a GoFundMe page was set up for his two children Ava and Arthur with the aim of them receiving half of the money each when they turn 21 - they will need a solicitor to access the money which is being “held in trust”.

The page has raised £2,190 so far for the children - it originally set out to raise £500.

Rachel said: “It’s something for them because their dad isn’t going to be there. It’s something to help them which is just for them.”

It’s not too late to donate to the GoFundMe page which can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/y82khyf5.