Creating a lasting legacy for Emma
When much-loved team member Emma Widdowson died unexpectedly in November 2025, it hit everyone here at Trust hard. Almost a year on, the team is determined to create a lasting legacy for Emma, raising vital funds for charity and paying tribute to her in true Trust fashion, as fundraising leader Daisy Squire explains.
“We all loved Emma. She was always there, like a work mum to all of us, making us laugh. If you ever felt down, you just knew you could talk to her and she’d make your day,” says Daisy.
Emma was a Project Coordinator who’d been with Trust for eight years. A hugely popular member of the team who always had time for everyone, she was just 42 years old and had a little boy with her partner. But last November, the unthinkable happened. Emma died unexpectedly, of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, also known as sudden adult death syndrome or SADS.
“We all saw her on the Thursday before she died,” says Daisy. “She was fine and well, her normal self. She didn’t work Fridays, so we didn’t see her. And then on the Saturday everyone’s phone started to ring. We were all getting calls from Liam [Trust MD] and thinking what’s happened? Is something going on with the business? What he told us was the last thing anyone expected.”
A devastating moment for everyone
Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome is when somebody dies unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but it’s not clear what the cause was. It affects around 500 people in the UK every year – many of them young and seemingly healthy.
As Daisy says, “It’s horrendous. It can just hit you. Hold your loved ones that little bit tighter, because you just don’t know when it’s going to happen to someone.”
“When we came back to work, every single desk had a packet of tissues, and there were flowers and cards just pouring in. It was so much to process. I remember Liam getting us all together for a big team meeting and it was basically a grief meeting. It must have been so hard for him, sitting there in the middle of it, but I thought, good on you for doing that, I don’t think I could have.”
Raising funds in Emma’s memory
“Right from the start, we all just wanted to do something to help,” says Daisy. “We wanted to raise money for the SADS UK charity, do the right things here at Trust to remember Emma and, of course, always make sure we’re being sensitive to her family.”
That’s why, this November, we’re kicking off a whole range of fundraising activities in support of the charity and in celebration of Emma. It all starts with a coffee morning at Trust’s head office on Friday 27 November, where we’ll be serving up sausage and bacon butties to the site crews from 6am, so they can get involved before heading out to their projects.
Then from 8am, there will be tea, coffee, cakes and cookies for everyone who wants to stop by, as well as a raffle, tombola and games for kids. It’s not just open to Trust colleagues – everyone’s welcome, and Daisy’s delighted with the support from beyond Trust too.
“Everyone’s getting involved,” says Daisy. “We’re all doing our part to make it a really big thing, because we all loved Emma. We’re a big team but we’re really close – it’s nice when we all work together, and work hard, to make something like this happen.”
“We’ve also reached out to lots of local businesses and people are coming from all over. Morrisons, Tesco, Amazon and our local pubs have all kindly donated vouchers as prizes, and lots of companies we work with have donated too, including Truck and Bus, UK Tool Hire and Gap.”
Daisy and the team are also working closely with the SADS UK charity, who’ve provided T-shirts and sashes to help raise awareness of the condition, and the important work they do.
A tribute in true Trust style
The coffee morning’s just the start. Liam is hoping to install a defibrillator at Trust HQ to put vital life-saving equipment closer to everyone, as well as creating a space for anybody who’s feeling unwell or unhappy to be able to go and talk it through. There are also plans to raise funds for a bench in Emma’s name outside the Trust head office.
“We thought it would be really nice to create a place where, if anyone just needs a few minutes, they can go and sit in the fresh air – whether that’s to feel like they’re with Emma, or just to have a moment for themselves,” says Daisy.
But one of the biggest tributes we’re paying to Emma – and one that’s Trust through and through – is naming a brand new grab wagon after her. The bright blue grab is already out on the road, carrying Emma’s name wherever it goes.
“Her name will always be with us because it’s right there on the grab,” says Daisy. “Sometimes I see it driving past when I’m on my way to work or on my way home and it always puts a smile on my face.”
Making Emma part of our future
We’re determined to keep on remembering Emma, supporting her family and raising money for SADS UK into next year and far beyond. Plans are already taking shape for a walk, which will be called Every Step for Emma, bringing in more money to back the charity’s important work.
“We want to make it a yearly thing,” says Daisy. “It’s important to all of us that we do something every year for her around the date it happened, so it’s not just a sad memory, it’s a celebration of her life – and we’ve always got more things we can do.”
If you’d like to get involved in any way, please reach out to Daisy or call 0115 930 9325. You can also find out more about SADS UK’s vital work at sadsuk.org.uk
