A 'quirky and eccentric' former Eton school boy who died left his Grade II listed house to a homeless charity - to give someone a place to live.

David Guinness, who died aged 81 in 2020, gifted his three-bedroom cottage to Emmaus Gloucestershire after wanting to "make a difference" in the area. "

Now the charity hopes to have the house in Stroud, worth up to £180,000, ready for a family to move in by Christmas.

Rose Niland, 55, from Stroud, was David's close friend for 11 years. She described him as "very eccentric and quirky". "

Pal Rose, a retired physiotherapist, first met David at a local Christmas carol service where he was playing the organ.

She said David, who was born in Belgravia in 1938, attended Eton and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge.

He later worked in various engineering and teaching roles, including on the US space program.

Rose said: "He started to notice that there were a lot of homeless people in Stroud. "

"He even befriended some people who were sleeping rough, so he just decided to leave his house and made his bequest to Emmaus."

"I think he wanted to feel he'd made a difference."

"He would often look back on his life and wonder what he had done, what he'd achieved, what his standing was in society. "

"So leaving his house was a way that he could at least accommodate two or three homeless people and make a difference."

Rose added: ''He was just one of these people who could be very funny without trying.

"He was very tall, he was 6'3 and had very long legs, so he would always lean back on the organ stool."

"One time he leaned back on his organ stool and caught fire on one of the candles. "

"I don't think he realised he was on fire, but one of the ladies sitting at the back did, and she managed to put him out."

"It seemed to be a real sort of Father Ted or Monty Python sort of moment.''"

Lorraine Watson, Chief Operations Officer from Emmaus Gloucestershire said: "How do you thank somebody who has left a house? "

"I wish he was around to see what we are doing and I wish he would be around to see a family when they walked in here. "

"So David, thank you from me and thank you from the various families over many, many years that might occupy this property."

Rose says David had been married but had been living alone in the Stroud cottage for two decades.

Rose said they often discussed issues like homelessness and inequality, which David cared deeply about, over cups of tea.

David died from COVID-19 at Gloucester Royal Hospital on December 6, 2020.

"I felt absolutely awful," Rose said when she heard the news. "

She was unable to visit because of COVID restrictions at the time.

"I was very sad that I couldn't do anything. I just felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do."

Emmaus received the keys in 2022 and is now refurbishing the property.

Rose said David would be "very pleased" to see the house in progress now. "If he's up there, he'd be delighted that it's happening," she said. "

"Hopefully his spirit is wandering around somewhere in here watching."

ENDS