My sister, Anne Harrison, who has died aged 73, was a teacher, linguist, community organiser and social activist. Born into a Welsh family but brought up in the south of England, Anne nevertheless kept strong ties to Wales, learning the language as an adult at City Lit, London, where typically she also became student governor.
Anne was born in Bromley, Kent, one of three children of Valerie (nee Lloyd George), a teacher who had been a researcher on the Beveridge report, and Goronwy Daniel, a civil servant. Anne graduated in French from Bangor University and received a PGCE teaching qualification and a master’s from the Institute of Education, London. Her main career was in tertiary education at Uxbridge and then Richmond College in west London. In the 1970s, she was among the earliest teachers of English as a foreign language and the new discipline of communication Sstudies, later specialising in English literature and French.
What linked all these roles was Anne’s ability to enthuse students from diverse backgrounds with the learning process as well as impart her sheer love of language and literature. Anne’s passion for social justice permeated all she did; an access course she ran created opportunities for higher education in later life, enabling progression, as she put it, from “Uxbridge to Oxbridge”.
She was an indefatigable contributor to community life in Ealing, where she lived with her husband, Bernard Harrison, for 40 years. She was an active member of Ealing Peace Register, which supported the Greenham Common women, the secretary of her local allotment association and a campaigner for state education. Latterly she and her family were active in the national Bring Back British Rail campaign, founded by her daughter, Ellie, in 2009.
After retiring from Richmond College in 2005, Anne dedicated herself wholeheartedly to supporting secondary education in Uganda. For two years in the 60s she had taught at Kyebambe girls’ school in Fort Portal and she maintained friendships with her former colleagues and students for 40 years. In 2007, she returned to Fort Portal for another term’s teaching.
Identifying schools most in need of support, she co-founded a charity, Uganda Schools Trust. In collaboration with local educationists, it provided resources for schools and bursaries for individual girls. A hugely successful fundraiser, Anne organised themed walks, swimathons and poetry readings, with warmth, humour, optimism and persistence.
She is survived by Bernard, whom she married in 1977, and their daughters, Flo and Ellie, and grandchildren, Eve and Bobby.
