May the 4th be with you

Saturday 4 May is observed by many Star Wars fans as Star Wars Day, an annual celebration of the popular media franchise.

The Star Wars Day catchphrase ‘May the fourth be with you’ is a pun on the famous Star Wars line ‘May the Force be with you,’ and as legend has it, was first used on 4 May 1979, the day the late Margaret Thatcher took office as Prime Minister.

This Star Wars Day, postman, Darren Sutcliffe, from Blackpool and Poulton Delivery Office, will be swapping his uniform for a Star Wars stormtrooper costume to deliver his round, in aid of Kidney Research UK.

Darren is raising money in memory of his stepfather, Rod Park, who passed away on 4 May 2018.

‘Rod had a kidney transplant 20 years ago,’ said Darren. ‘He had polycystic kidney disease and lost his father to the same disease at the age of 46. Rod is sadly missed; he was a very funny man with a great sense of humour, who was caring and loving and best of all, he made my mum happy.

‘Ever since Star Wars came out in 1977 I was hooked. I was always interested in joining the Star Wars costume groups, but never took the next step until last year, when I decided to go for the iconic stormtrooper look, as they were my favourite characters when I was a child.

‘As I started my kit build, Rod became very ill and sadly passed away. Following the funeral service, I was reading through the order of service book when it dawned on me that Rod had died on 4 May. Being a Star Wars fan, that's when I had the crazy idea of delivering the mail dressed as a stormtrooper for Kidney Research UK in Rod’s memory.

Rod is part of the ‘UK Garrison’ costume group, whose members volunteer for different charity events across the UK.

Marc Shaw, interim head of community and events at Kidney Research UK, said: ‘As a member of the UK Garrison costume group Darren has to adhere to certain rules before setting off on his round. The strict rules of the group include him not being seen getting into or out of his costume, so a special van has been arranged in order for him to take breaks in between delivering his letters.’

If you would like to help Darren reach his £1,000 target, you can visit his Just Giving page here.

If you are concerned about your kidney health, you can click here to take Kidney Research UK’s free two-minute kidney health check.