SARAH and Euan had not realised how many people had been touched by their mother, Alison, and wanted to pay their respects to this caring woman and wonderful friend. Nevertheless, those unable to fit into the small hall at Warriston Crematorium w
ere able to listen to Juliet Wilson of the Humanist Society lead the ceremony around her coffin spread with sunflowers.
Alison Wright was born in 1945 into a drab, immediately post-war Britain. Her Scottish father, as a bank officer, was in a reserved occupation during the war and met her mother, a secretary, in London. Her parents took her and her older brother, John, briefly to Aberdeen before settling in Edinburgh.
As the children grew up they were part of the mischievous Queen Street "gang" who spent days of freedom in the gardens opposite their home. One "adventure" was to light a bonfire in an underground pipe that doubled as a cave to play in. Within a few minutes smoke was pouring out of the BBC premises over the road at the far end of the underground pipe. Fire engines quickly arrived and the "gang" scattered but many of those early friendships were sustained for many years.
More conventionally, Alison did well at Mary Erskine School and went on to qualify as a teacher at Moray House. She met her husband-to-be, Stuart, in Edinburgh and after they married in 1968, she continued teaching, initially at Balfour school, going part-time when necessary to look after their two children.
The family loved to spend holidays in Mull, mostly in a caravan and lean-to shack with questionable en-suite facilities. Alison kept close contact with relatives in Aberdeen and with her brother, John, who worked in many places around the world before he settled in Kelso.
Stuart and Alison separated and he eventually went to Australia, where he died in 2004. Meantime, Alison had moved on to Telford College, where she was integral in setting up the first Youth Training Scheme, which was subsequently adopted nationally.
She took a lead in promoting support and awareness for students with special needs, especially those with learning difficulties. Many of her students kept in touch to the end of her life. She became head of department and on behalf of the college developed international relations for European-funded projects. She enjoyed the challenges and contacts she made during these visits abroad to the Netherlands and France and especially to the fields of sunflowers around Toulouse.
Ill health led to early retirement from college life, but opened up new avenues for her attention as a volunteer for the Disability Income Group, driving for Safeguarding Communities Reducing Offending (Sacro) and working in St Columba's Hospice shop in Leith. Five years ago, she also joined the Board of Women onto Work (Wow), an organisation dedicated to raising women's aspirations and supporting them in developing their careers and meeting all their family commitments. She left the board briefly to caretake the role of the executive manager of the organisation during a few months of instability.
Her wit and empathy enabled the staff to overcome difficulties and together with the board and the newly appointed director moved Wow to its present dynamic and successful role in serving disadvantaged Edinburgh women.
Alison always had an amazing capacity to give to others. Feisty, courageous, professional, witty and honest – these are the characteristics that sustained her and encouraged us all even through her last illness. Diagnosed with cancer in March 2006 to add to her constant struggle with emphysema, she was given a few months to live. Cheeky and defiant as ever, Alison survived more than two years, working for others until the last few days in hospital, where she was visited by many of the friends she had collected over the years. She was an articulate, intelligent woman. Open-minded, she related well to people of all ages. She was a fond and proud mother who encouraged Sarah and Euan to be happy in their chosen vocations and friendships.
At her funeral, they listed some of what they had learned from her: have faith and confidence in yourself to say how you feel in the moment otherwise the moment passes; reach out to others and listen; have the strength to fight on; believe in yourself and make the most of each moment; and, most importantly, surround yourself with people who love you and the rest will fall into place.
Alison Evans followed these precepts, a great Scotswoman who made us all feel a bit brighter.
The full article contains 775 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
