TRIBUTE TO LORD GEORGE
Edward Alan John George, Baron George, banker, born 11 September 1938; died 18 April 2009
(Lord George's portrait reproduced by kind permission of June Mendoza © 2007 - click on it and you can see a 6MB PDF version of the original painting)

  Photos epitomising the person we knew      Excerpt from the Guardian Obituary      Information about the portrait and artist
 

Lord George - Governor who led the Bank of England to independence after the 1997 general election:
Excerpts reproduced from the obituary article by kind permission © Guardian News & Media 2009

The loss of Lord George came as something of a shock having only spoken to him a few months ago, but now something he said then, makes sense ... he asked me to contact him again in the New Year to confirm dates for our latest project.  With hindsight he obviously knew then, what was to come in the not so distant future.

He was passionate about his involvement with worthy causes and a wonderfully engaging and entertaining speaker.  I remember he actually put off a luncheon engagement to be able to attend the Bikeability launch .. something that I could never thank him enough for!

Now he has taken his leave, Lady George tells me that if anyone would like to make a donation in his memory, to do so to the Cornwall Community Foundation.  You can either donate on line (if you click on their logo, to find out more) or go to the Lord George Memorial page, download it and donate that way .. needless to say, I have already done so!
 

My memories of him are simply this, I barely knew him but did have the privilege of meeting him in August 2007.  We (Steve Rowsell and myself) were organising the launch of Bikeability in Cornwall, having piloted it for the six months between September 2006 and March 2007 in county (and in Steve's instance, in Hertfordshire), in conjunction with both the schools and children we'd worked with during that period. 

A couple of weeks prior to the launch, we had a voice mail asking us to get back to him on what transpired to be, his home number.  He'd held his fire replying to our invitation whilst trying to juggle his appointment diary, which I still find amazing.  But you can't put a price on a child's life and given that such an incident (Antony Lord) had already occurred just a few miles down the road, we wholeheartedly supported his decision.
 

Lord George not only offered to underwrite the cost of the off road bike we were intending to raffle but asked if there was anything else he was able to contribute at all .. to a total stranger no less!  When we did meet a couple of weeks later, almost the first thing he did, was to ensure the bike was paid for.  I guess I was a little overawed by his professional stature having heard him speak once at a Truro College Business Awards bash but I had nothing to fear, he was a very generous and wonderfully supportive person and I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have met him in person.

More recently he was equally supportive of a new venture we still aim to introduce to Cornwall, an off shoot from Cycling Projects, a 'Kernow Wheels 4 All' facility for anyone, irrespective of any impairment currently preventing them from being involved in cycling.  There are numerous examples but would be someone with different, or additional needs, such as those with mental health issues, sensory impairment, learning difficulties, or any physical/emotional needs that make it difficult for them to be included.
 

When he called me a few months back, he said 'Wendy, it's Eddie ..' I stupidly responded being caught off guard by saying 'hello Mr Ge ... ' oops!! When I realised my mistake, I backpedalled so hard!  I then started again, this time addressing him correctly as befitted his caring, gentle giant status!  Bless him, he laughed and took it in his stride.  He also always signed any emails 'Eddie' as well but out of respect, again I always addressed him correctly.
 

Lord George was never pretentious in any way that I am aware of .. indeed, when I sent through a draft of the press release to him, to approve before publishing it, because it revolved around his support appealing to the local businesses of Cornwall, I had put his quote ahead of that of Lady Mary's .. which he asked me to reverse and I quote .. "I think this text rather sidelines Mary Holborow, who has more impact on Cornwall than Jon Snow or me put together! I'd put her quote ahead of ours."  And so it was done!
 

That particular press release never actually saw the light of day in the full sense, encouraging the local businesses to also support us despite the impending credit crunch.  However, in reality it is a facility this county does need, particularly with four special needs schools!  Apart from his asking me to confirm arrangements in the new year, there was no hint of what was to come ... now of course, sadly it is obvious - he had mentioned having another prior engagement on the day we had hoped would be the launch date but it certainly wasn't anything that would have crossed my mind.

By kind permission of Chrissie Laming ~ Copyright © 2007 Newquay Voice
 

This past weekend, I was at the CTC's annual awards dinner as two friends were to receive Volunteer of the Year SW and SE respectively .. so was Phillip Darnton, Chairman of Cycling England who met him at the launch and Kevin Mayne, Director of the CTC who had been represented by Rob Fuller, the Senior Cycling Development Manager .. together we were all agreed how cycling had just lost a wonderful stalwart advocate. 

However that is not the end of the story .. having spoken to his widow Lady George, to ask the family's permission to put a tribute to Lord George on the website, she has very kindly offered to continue the support that he has given us previously and with any future ventures - naturally, we have accepted her generous offer.  After all, this email I received the other day, is another indication of just how badly, such a facility is both wanted and needed here .. too often this proves to be the case and something has to be done to reverse this trend!

We recently had a meeting at Disability Cornwall and are trying to raise awareness of disability issues, hopefully by giving small groups of disabled people, both young and more mature the chance to try out new activities. To pay for this opportunity we hope to raise sponsorship. 

Cycling appeared to be an ideal activity.  The reason for emailing you being do you know of any suitable courses, or any organisations that have the necessary equipment and instructors to run such a course in the area.  If not this could also highlight the lack of facilities in the area.

Hope to meet soon

(Name and address supplied)
 

The pictures that Chrissie Laming took (above) says it all in terms of his personality as indeed, does the quote from the obituary in the Guardian, "Howard Davies writes: Montagu Norman used to say the Bank of England was his only mistress. Eddie George was too fastidious to use such racy language, but the same was true of him. He loved everything about the Bank, from the pink-coated parlour stewards to the annual governor's cricket match. Each year, he assembled a team to try to beat the Bank Club's first eleven. In his last year he persuaded Viv Richards to turn out, alongside old lags like me and Ian Plenderleith.
 

As Viv and I were preparing to do battle, Eddie popped into the changing room to give us a word of encouragement. Sir Viv solemnly asked him how the pitch would play and what tactics he advised. Eddie began to answer, as he would to a journalist quizzing him on the inflation target, then collapsed into giggles as he saw the absurdity of lecturing Richards on his strokeplay. He was a lovely man, and much more fun to be with than his central bankish demeanour in public suggested. The Old Lady has lost a faithful admirer." © Guardian News & Media 2009.

His portrait is reproduced by kind permission of it's creator, the artist June Mendoza © 2007 - This is what she has told me about it and I quote .. "The portrait was painted in the Bank of England for Lord George's retirement; a very happy collaboration which generated a private commission to paint a double portrait of him and his wife, Vanessa, at their home in Cornwall. Two delightful people it was my joy to get to know."