Our wonderful Mum passed away in October 2020, due to cancer, at the age of 62.

She was the Director of the Environmental Health Group at LSHTM, still becoming a fierce old battleaxe (in her own words), and was an inspirational professor, colleague, teacher, mother, friend and life partner. Many learned of mum's illness through an article published in The Guardian where she used her own terminal situation to highlight the human cost that austerity has had on the NHS. Publishing the article, as many have commented, was a courageous act, but not out of character: the NHS was one of many causes she fought for outside of her work, alongside being a committed Labour & anti-Brexit campaigner. Mum re-vitalised her radical side in the last few years, joining protests and campaigning vocally on issues close to her heart, even doing her part to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement in July 2020, during what would be her last few months.

We can hardly believe it's coming up to four years since she died, and are determined to ensure her legacy - the work in public health she pioneered and adored - lives on.

We've set up a memorial fund in mum's name at LSHTM, which will be used to support travel grants, and contribute towards scholarships, for students of sub-Saharan African or Indian origin, working on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)-related issues.

We aim to make awards of between £500 and £2,000 each, with a maximum disbursal of £4,000 per year. We have agreed with LSHTM that to kick start the giving and to ensure enough funds to sustainably launch the awards, we need a pot of £20,000.

Incredibly, we have already managed to raise £17,000 for the fund, and we are hoping to reach our goal of £20,000 by the end of September, so we can begin giving out awards this academic year. We've set a fundraising goal for this event of £3000 to take us over the line!

I would be so grateful if you would consider donating to keep mum's work alive.