It is with great sadness that we say farewell to Gillian Hall who passed away - on the morning of Monday 7th January 2019 – after a series of strokes the previous week.
Gillian disliked having her photo taken, but she did like this picture from the Women+Health 30th Birthday Party.
Gillian was such a consistent bright light in the local community, starting up and supporting countless initiatives, projects and voluntary organisations, you will undoubtedly read and hear a lot about her in the next days and weeks.
To the Women+Health community she has simply been one of our most important, most cherished and completely irreplaceable corner stones.
Since 1992 (yes for that long!) Gillian has been closely involved with our centre in Carol Street, having lived literally round the corner from us. Gilly worked as a volunteer in reception and was the guiding force in ensuring that the centre became completely accessible for people with physical disabilities including wheelchair users. A courageous and persistent campaigner for disability rights, she was also an advocate for holistic health approaches and regularly used and sang the praises of W+H Complementary Therapies.
As Trustee and Chair, she has been instrumental in shaping and running Women + Health spanning three decades: Building relationships within and without the organisation, problem solving, fundraising – you name it - Gillian was there for us. She did not hide from the more mundane business side of organisational life, having served as company secretary for many years. Neither did she shy away from making difficult decisions when funding became scarce.
But what Gillian will be most remembered and cherished for by the staff team, her fellow trustees and the wider W+H community will be her open, generous heart – the love she shared freely, the open door, the cups of tea, the non-judgemental listening, the being able to completely focus on the needs of the ‘other’ despite her own considerable health challenges, her down-to-earthiness, her gigantic wisdom – all delivered with a health enhancing dose of extra dry humour.
Thank you Gilly Hall for having given us so much light, wisdom and laughter!
Lis Retzmann, Director
On behalf of the Women + Health Team
