Tribute by Tina Coldham
Remembering John Evans OBE – Celebrating Independent Living I fully intended to make a vlog to celebrate my relationship with John and what he had achieved. I kept putting it off, down the list of to dos. Then one day as time was ticking on, I asked myself ‘why am I procrastinating doing this?’. I realised that I was putting off doing it because the passing of John is still so sensitive for me, and death is a trigger for me having enduring mental health problems. So, I bottled out! Writing for the website, I can get over my thoughts and feelings without you having to see me crying and looking like a cake left out in the rain! I had to think when I first came across John. It must have been pre-millennium when I started to get involved in wider disability politics in Hampshire. I was instantly impressed at the organising and the history that John was pivotal in creating. Through this I was introduced to direct payments in social care. ...