David J Black
Memorial Service

Dear Friends and Acquaintances of David Black,

We are getting in touch to invite you to a memorial service for our late father, David Black. Towards the end of his life, he expressed that he was having a lot of fun planning his own memorial service, even though it was a party that he would never be able to attend.

We’re looking to honour his wish for such a party. His memorial service will be on Thursday 9th April at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. There will be a variety of performances - music, poetry and speeches - from his family and friends, followed by drinks and nibbles. Feel free to bring a story or anecdote to share about dad for the conversations! 

Our father also had many international friends and we are planning to live-stream the performance for those who are unable to attend in person.

We would also like to thank the Queen’s Hall for all their support. He was involved in saving the Queen’s Hall many decades ago and it is a place that was close to his heart, so it is a privilege to host his memorial service in such a wonderful venue.

Please wear whatever you find comfortable, any colour of clothes is welcome. We ask that children should not attend unless they are direct family.

RSVP

Whether you are coming in person or watching online, please RSVP using the link below so that we can plan adequate catering and seating (otherwise you may find yourself without a glass of wine!) for the in-person attendees and so that we know what email address to send the live-stream to for online attendees:

RSVP for the Memorial Service

If you only see this email last-minute then please don’t worry about the RSVP and come along anyway.

A request for you

We’re sending this invitation to those of our father’s friends that we have email addresses for, but there are many friends that we’ll miss. Please forward this invitation on to any of his friends so that they have an opportunity to attend if they wish.

Collection for ME/CFS

We will be making a collection for the ME Association. ME/CFS was a cause close to our father’s heart. You can hear it in his words rather than ours:

“Remarkably few of us are aware of it, but there is a catastrophic UK health epidemic affecting hundreds of thousands of children and adults which has been hidden in plain sight for decades, despite being described in a Commons debate in February 2018 as ‘the biggest medical scandal of the 21st century.’

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a neurological disorder affecting around 300,000 UK citizens. For around 25% of its victims ME/CFS can be severely debilitating, leaving them forgotten in darkened rooms, often unable to move, hypersensitive to light and noise, confused by brain fog, wracked by pain, and at risk of death.”

Charitable donations are desperately needed to fund research into ME.  If you wish to donate ahead of time or are unable to attend but wish to donate then you can use this link or scan the QR code below with your phone camera.

Timings

Arrival: 2pm

Performance: 2.30pm

End: 6pm

Location

The Queen's Hall

85–89 Clerk St

Edinburgh

EH8 9JG

The Queen’s Hall is based in central Edinburgh and there is limited on-street parking nearby but plenty of bus connections. Transport options can be found on the instructions for getting to the Queen’s Hall. For those with accessibility requirements, please see the accessibility information.

We very much hope to see you there and look forward to meeting the many people who made up dad’s life.

Best wishes,

David’s sons Hugh, Adam & James