A vigil has been planned for a Hull shopkeeper who was a local hero to hundreds of people.
Chakib tragically died aged 59 while riding a bicycle on Hedon Road. A 51-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and causing death while over the prescribed limit for drugs. He has since been released on conditional bail whilst investigations are ongoing.
Fondly known as ‘Tic Tac’, Chakib was the owner of Queens Gardens News and Whitefriargate News. Former customers have left emotional tributes describing him as an “absolute legend” who cared deeply for the community.
Alice Welsh, 31, said she was part of a group of teenagers that used to hang out at “The Pit” – Beverley Gate in Whitefriargate. They would often visit Chakib’s shop and she remembers how kind he was.
The idea is to gather by Queen’s Gardens in Hull City Centre on Saturday, July 12 at 3pm. Alice has appealed for anyone who can bring a portable speaker and microphone to get in touch via the event page on Facebook, with the aim of anyone who wishes to speak being able to share heartfelt stories about Chakib.
She said: “It came about because we wanted to gather together to celebrate his life. Tic Tac was a massive part of hundreds and hundreds of people’s lives from when we were all really young teenagers to young adults hanging around in the town centre.”
Alice said Chakib was “incredible to all of us” and they knew him over the course of 15 years. “The idea is just to tell stories and think about him,” she said.
“I imagine that a lot of people that will be wanting to come tomorrow wouldn’t feel comfortable turning up to his funeral with it being more for his family and close friends, but then there’s a lot of us that wanted him to know that he meant a lot to us.”
She added: “I remember multiple times as a kid I’d go by and want a fizzy drink and chocolate bar and I was about £1 under so he’d just give us it and say, ‘It’s alright – next time’.
“It instilled quite a lot of amazing behaviours for us because somebody trusted us. As teenagers, you are normally looked at as being naughty, but this man would always trust us. It gave us a reason to think, ‘Next week I do actually have that cash, I am going to go in and make sure I give it to him.’ He was just such an incredible, community-minded man.”
Writing on the event page, one person said: “Tic Tac was an absolute legend, always put his customers first and always had a smile on his face, RIP you will forever live on in our hearts.”
Another recalled how Chakib would “always ask if am okay and how my day’s going would always make people laugh and smile gonna be missed not only by me but by many others”.
People are encouraged to bring along flowers and candles to the vigil, but not balloons due to the environmental impact.