Thousands to celebrate the life of Albury's Matthew Griffiths

A vulnerable teenager wrote this goodbye message in 2017 to Matthew Griffiths, who was leaving his role with the employment support program Geared 4 Careers.

It sums up perfectly the impact "Griffo" had on thousands of people, who will also be thanking the 38-year-old for the warmth he brought into their lives when he is farewelled at the Lavington Sportsground on Monday.

There will be attendees from as far afield as Canada, and from closer to home such as Dubbo and Melbourne, in a reflection of the wide reach Mr Griffiths had through hospitality, sport, voluntary gambling support and his work with Southern Vale Homes.

The father-of-two who helped so many in his vibrant life sadly passed away on February 9.

Shock, sorrow and gratitude have been relayed to Mr Griffiths' family and wife Grace in recent weeks.

"I'm getting multiple messages a day, saying, 'You don't know me, but Matt helped me out years ago', or, 'I know Matt from the pub days', or 'I met Matt when I was in Dubbo'," Mrs Griffiths said.

"It's so overwhelming but they are lovely messages.

"He just had that really comforting personality where you felt like you could offload, that he could give you a hug from afar."

After graduating Xavier High School in 2001, where he represented the school in basketball, AFL, soccer, athletics, and swimming, Mr Griffiths worked in hospitality.

He helped make "Paddy's" the popular place it was in the early 2000s, and Paul Sutton, who ran the pub, asked Matt to join him in managing the Garden Hotel in Dubbo.

A dedicated worker, he did that from 2012 and greatly enjoyed it.

But Mr Griffiths found he was struggling with gambling, and upon returning from Dubbo, admitted himself into rehabilitation in Melbourne.

After receiving support over a few months, he returned to the Border and worked many jobs, including at Soden's, the Kinross, and Redi 2 Hire.

Then as a 30-year-old, just two years after initially moving to Dubbo, he was running Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Although Mrs Griffiths met Matt after he had started these meetings, she soon learned of their impact.

"Sometimes it would be 10 o'clock and they'd still there, and he'd come home and say 'We had 10 people tonight, it was so good'," she said.

"He would be picking people up from the train station if they were coming from Wagga and taking them to meetings.

"He was very proud of it."

Mr Griffiths was also proud of his time working with youth, which he did before starting his much-loved sales manager role at Southern Vale Homes in 2017.

It was during this youth support work that Mr Griffiths met Gateway Health worker and Wodonga councillor Kat Bennett, who paid tribute to Matt during Monday's council meeting.

"We were working with high school kids, particularly disengaged kids, but also just any kids wanting help with employment skills," she said.

"He was doing really awesome work, and I know he has been at Southern Vale for quite a few years now.

"He had literally the biggest smile I've ever known of anyone, and for me, it would be remiss not to mention that RUOK? Day is one day a year, but we really need to be asking this literally every single day.

"You never know who is really struggling and how that conversation could literally save a life."

There is no doubt Mr Griffiths helped others through dark times, including Kade Rixon.

Mr Rixon, speaking to The Border Mail about his journey with gambling addiction, said he "owed his life" to his former Jindera Football Club teammate.

During a Christmas Eve, 2016 meeting at the Rixon household, Mr Griffiths "laid it all on the line".

"It wasn't to help them understand, it was to get me to be honest and open up exactly how far deep I'm gone," Mr Rixon said.

"That was the turning point for me."

Of his friend and mentor's sudden passing, Mr Rixon said he would never forget Matt and what he did.

"You're the one that made me feel normal and like I deserved all the good things in life," he said.

"You made everyone feel like a close mate because you had time for everyone.

"I've never seen a guy look so happy mowing lawns on a 35-degree Saturday afternoon."

Mr Griffiths' best mate and best man at his wedding, Luke Suters, said supporting others through GA was part of Matt's own healing process and became his passion.

"He had definitely learned a lot and he taught everyone else a lot, with the challenges he overcame," he said.

"He personally taught me so much; he did a lot of work with psychologists, knew how the cogs turned and he relayed that to everyone else that he could."

Watching Grace and Matt start a family, become engaged in 2019 and married in April of last year was special for Mr Suters.

"It was beautiful to see their relationship," he said.

Grace, who was undertaking intensive care training in Shepparton when she began talking to Matt at the end of 2017, had never met a more "caring, funny person".

"I kind of already knew of Matt, as everybody did, but one of my girlfriends introduced us," she said.

"I moved back in January 2018, and within the first couple days I kind of knew this was the man I was going to marry.

"He definitely filled your cup up."

Matt's passing leaves a chasm in the Griffiths family, and despite the intense difficulty of farewelling him, they are welcoming the community to join them.

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"If we had capped it, he would have been rolling around in his grave," Mrs Griffiths said.

"He would have loved everyone being able to celebrate him."

Telling Matt's story will also make his legacy more accessible for three-year-old Thomas and James, 18 months, when they become of age.

The boys - who already have their father's knack for sport and beaming smile - will find stories of their Dad alongside his prized golf cart, top-of-the-range lawnmower and that collection of messages from teens whose lives he brought light into.

A celebration of Mr Griffiths' life will take place at the Lavington Sports Ground on February 28. Arrive at 10.30 for 11am start.