This week we said goodbye to John Willmington at a beautiful funeral mass at the parish church of All Saints in Twickenham, with his wife Susan and their children, and surrounded by many of his family, friends and colleagues.
It is a very sad time for us at Ealing Community Transport – John has had a long history with us, starting back in 1992 when he attended one of our community events. Twenty-six years later, and despite his illness, John still served as a Trustee.
It was not long after John’s election to the management committee that he became Chair of the Board. As ECT grew, so too did John’s role. He became a non-executive Director of the subsidiary ECT Group, which was at the time one of the largest and best known social enterprises in the UK.
In 2008, ECT underwent a significant restructuring process and returned to its core business, community transport. During this time, John stepped down from his long-standing role as Chair but took on the role of one of the founding trustees of the new ECT Charity. As always, John was a tower of strength to me as I took over the Chief Executive role. He stood by me and watched over me as my confidence grew. Sometimes his wonderfully positive feedback would make me blush, and his fantastic sense of humour would always made me laugh.
Today during the hugely uplifting mass, a celebration of John’s life, I could still hear his laugh and oft-repeated complaint at spelling his name wrong. The inspirational Homily from Father Timothy Tyndall encouraged each one of us to offer our thanks and share our thoughts with a neighbour. I was able to tell Patrick O’Keeffe, ECT Charity’s current Chair, that above all, I appreciated and was thankful for John’s loyalty. Loyalty to ECT Charity - loyalty to people with disabilities and mobility difficulties whom our charity serves - as well as personal loyalty to me. For John, loyalty meant more than anything else and it took me a while to understand and appreciate that fully. I never envisaged being at ECT Charity without John at my side, yet I take comfort knowing that John will continue to watch over us from above.
Rest in peace John, we shall miss you.
Anna Whitty 20.4.16
