Let’s Bring Richy Home and Celebrate His Life.

Richard (Richy) James was an Icon of the LGBTQI+ community in New Zealand. Over the past 20 years Richy has worked tirelessly to make our lives better and, amongst other positions he held, he was a President of GABA, the President of Rainbow Auckland, sat on the board of Auckland Pride, as well as being a trustee of The Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust and treasurer of The Cartier Trust. His work has made life better for thousands of New Zealanders and the organisations he has been involved with have raised in excess of $500,000 for LGBTQI+ causes.

Richard passed away in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on the 2nd September 2018 at the age of 52. This fund is for his friends, family and the broader community to assist with the costs of his repatriation to New Zealand and, for a suitable memorial to be held in his memory in Auckland.

We are hoping to raise NZ$12,000 to cover both.

We are still trying to ascertain whether or not Richy had travel insurance, but due to his sudden death, this is not proving to be easy. If we do find that he had coverage, it may take some time to be paid out which will still leave his family in financial hardship.

If there are funds left over after repatriation and memorial costs have been met or, if an insurance claim can be successfully made; any remaining funds will be donated in his memory to Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. Let’s bring Richy home and celebrate his life.