I first got to know Anne when I joined FOAP some twenty years ago. With her late husband Brian (a fine Chair) she was a leading light in setting up and running the Friends. Anne was an ideal fit for FOAP. She lived near the Park, loved it and had a tremendous capacity for hard work. She was excellent at networking, in part from the experienced gained from running a department at the OU. She knew most of the right people, and if she did not, she made it her business to seek them out. She would not take ‘No’ for an answer in her attempts to increase the FOAP profile. Her positivity was a great asset in her role as Chair of the Park Management Committee (PMC).
Features that we now take for granted might not be here now if it were not for her drive namely:
- The rejuvenated Old Rose Garden now the Community Garden
- The Carers’ Flower Bed in the Upper Park
- The Boules Court
- The Avenue of Trees at the top of Abington Park Crescent
- The Cross-Country Running Course in the Lower Park.
Sadly, the intended September opening of the new Toilet Block is almost certainly beyond even her endeavours before she retired!
Did she sometimes work too hard? Probably.
Did she make the Park a finer place? Certainly.
Anne is now moving to London to be nearer her son – Sir Sadiq Khan will already be getting nervous!
Dave Fleming (former Chair).