Childhood friends mark anniversary milestones

May 1 2008 By Graham Fraser

THREE Hamilton couples who have been friends since childhood came together last weekend to celebrate each other’s silver wedding anniversaries.

Ian and Janice Crawford, William and Yvonne Law and Paul and Sheena Deuchar all celebrated their 25th anniversary at the Parkville Hotel in Blantyre last Saturday.

Ian (45), Janice (45), William (45), Yvonne (44) and Sheena (45) all met when they were teenagers in the 1970s at youth clubs held in Fairhill’s Trinity Parish Church.

In 1980, when Sheena was 18, she met Paul Deuchar on holiday in Majorca and the pair fell in love.

Three years later, in March 1983, Ian and Janice tied the knot

Paul and Sheena married the following month before William and Yvonne made their vows in June.

All three couples were married where it all started — Trinity Parish Church.

Last Saturday, they joined together again to celebrate their landmarks with family and friends.

They decided to use the occasion to raise money for cancer research.

William, a building contract manager, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October last year.

Happily, he was given the all-clear a few weeks ago.

And twenty years ago, Ian, a builder, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease a week after his son Alan was born.

The illness is a cancer of the lymph glands.

Thankfully, he also made a full recovery six months later.

“We all decided that we wanted to give the money to charity instead of getting presents,” explained William, who has three children.

“I had the tumour, Ian recovered from cancer and Sheena’s sister Carol Stewart also suffered from breast cancer but has now fully recovered.

“The main reason behind the big silver anniversary party was to raise money for cancer research.”

Father-of-three Ian added: “The three families have been very close for the past 25 years so it seemed silly to have three separate parties. It was extra special for all of our friends and families to come together on this one occasion.”

Paul (56), who is originally from Enfield and also has three children, said: “It was great for everyone to come together. Even my parents managed to make it up from London.”

The three couples and their families have managed to raise £1830 for Cancer Research UK

William added: “We are obviously delighted to have raised the cash for something that means a lot to all of us.”