One of the best ambassadors for the farming industry and a co-founder of the Big C cancer charity, David Moar, has died aged 74 at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital on Saturday, May 24. Since the Big C was founded with fellow cancer patient Clive Bamford in 1980, it has raised a total of £45m and currently generates about £3m a year income. David, who was chairman of the charity for some 40 years, then became its president.

A farmer’s son and his family originally hailed from the Orkneys, his father had moved to Norfolk to manage the Claxton estate for Olympic gold medal winner, and the 1974 RNAA president, Maj Derek Allhusen. Although persuaded not to become a farmer,  he joined Loddon Young Farmers’ Club where he met his wife, Carolyn. He trained in engineering, including night school at City College and worked for leading car businesses including Mann Egerton – and developed a lifelong enthusiasm for cars of all shapes and sizes including the then new ranges of four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Later, he did teach at City College, Norwich for a year before joining the buying group Loddon Farmers as training officer organising sessions and workshops with the then Agricultural Training Board. Over the years, he rose through the ranks and when the merger with Mid-Norfolk Farmers was taking shape in 2003, he’d become Loddon’s interim general manager. As the combined group, Anglia Farmers (now AF) took shape and it was not the easiest initial merger of two “chalk and cheese” groups, David played a critical front-facing role as business development manager. And when AF was expanding rapidly, sometimes recruiting as many as 15 members a month, he was always to the fore with a warm welcome and a determination for the enlarged buying group to succeed.

But, at the age of 27, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and over the following months and years, which involved frequent visits to London hospitals, he and Clive Bamford decided to see if it would be possible to raise funds to ensure that local hospitals could provide the same levels of treatment as the capital’s hospitals.  To his surprise, their initial appeal for the Big C charity was hugely successful and remains so.

In October 2009, he was presented with the MBE by the late Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace for his charitable efforts. In his career, whether representing buying groups at shows, exhibitions and farming events, his enthusiasm and sheer zest for life was so obvious. And, of course, he always a number of Big C leaflets to display too.

A great supporter of the Royal Norfolk Show, he only missed one in 1979 when pressing cancer treatment had to be carried out. He was a long-serving member of Stalham Farmers’ Club and also of the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association. With thanks to Michael Pollitt for writing this obituary.