It is with much sadness we announce the death from cancer of Leicester WDM group member Dr John Moore on June 23rd 2013. He joined the group in 2001 and served as Secretary, taking part in group meetings, stalls and lobbying activities up to Christmas 2012 when his health started to deteriorate.
John is in the middle in this picture
John was born in Wolverhampton in 1937, the son of a dental surgeon and trained in medicine working initially in hospitals in Birmingham. He became a paediatrician specialising in work with disabled children, moving to Leicester in 1976. He had a distinguished medical career which also involved sharing his skills and knowledge with people in developing countries, particularly Uganda which he visited frequently to run training courses and also led groups on visits. John also played an integral part in starting up rehabilitation services for people with physical disabilities as part of the Gondar Link between Leicester University and the University of Gondar in Ethiopia.
John was brought up as a Methodist and continued as a practising member of the denomination until his death and this experience informed his beliefs, values and practice throughout his life and stimulated his interest in development issues. He had a strong sense of social justice which led him to join and support WDM, both nationally and locally, giving both time and money generously. He read widely and often had useful background information on development issues to bring to the group and was an effective campaigner on stalls and political lobbies. His highlights included demonstrating against Barclays Bank, taking part in the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh in 2005 and lobbying MPs and MEPs. We will miss his sense of humour, trenchant views, generosity and good judgement very much in our group but will carry on the campaigning struggle which is what he would have wished.
