We are all mourning the loss of a friend and colleague who contributed so much to the Forum and to the community in Enfield more widely.
Our excellent Chair, Christine Whetstone died last month and will be greatly missed and mourned by the Forum and all the many other organisations she played a vital role in from the Writing Group she ran for us to much acclaim, the work she did for the local Youth Offending Team and her tireless contributions to Amnesty International.
She was quietly wise and had the capacity to act constructively, skills she must have honed as a deputy headteacher in her working life.
Christine brought a unique personality to her contribution to the Forum, she was hard-working and utterly reliable, super competent, modest, gracious and quietly clever and very good company. Christine was special, and the loss of her leadership is an extremely heavy blow for us.
Knowing she was ill only in the latter part of last year and then, later, that her condition was incurable, Christine was supremely stoical and continued in all her roles until very shortly before the end. In our last conversation, a fortnight ago, she was talking about who could take over the chair and the writing group.
Our thoughts are with her family: husband, John, children Erin & Owen and her grandchildren. For them the loss, before her time, is incalculable but her legacy an inestimable treasure.
Vivien Giladi on behalf of the Forum Executive Committee