My colleague Felicity Hilder, who has died aged 81, was a co-founder and, for many years, a trustee of the Lymphoma Association, who helped the organisation grow into a respected provider of much-needed support and information.
With her husband, Tim, who had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1972, Felicity was part of the group that formally launched what was then known as the Hodgkin’s Disease Association as a national charity in 1986.
Passionately devoted to the group’s vision of offering support to patients, families and friends affected by lymphatic cancers, Felicity was instrumental in driving the organisation forward while caring for her husband during periods of ill-health. It was their own experiences that drove the couple to want to make things better for others going through the same thing.
After Tim died in 1994, Felicity continued to be one of the charity’s trustees, taking it from a small operation based in their home in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, with £276 in the bank, to a thriving organisation with about 30 staff, 200 volunteers and an annual income of around £1.2m.
Felicity continued to attend fundraising events, association conferences and support group meetings. In 2006, the charity recognised her contribution at its first Beacons of Hope awards. In 2008, Felicity was honoured at a ceremony for Buckinghamshire charity workers. In 2012 she was appointed OBE for charitable services.
Daughter of Aileen (nee Battersby) and Gerald Sketch, a farmer, Felicity grew up in Great Totham and Wickham Bishops, both in Essex. She went to Buckswood prep school and then to a school in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and worked as an under-matron at Felsted school, in Dunmow, Essex, before her marriage in 1956 to Tim.
Felicity had a great passion for travel, whether that was on an archaeological treks or examining icebergs. Her quiet strength, determination and ability to get important jobs done meant she was always in demand for committees, groups and organisations. An accomplished writer and devoted Christian, Felicity edited her local parish magazine until shortly before her death.
Felicity is survived by her children, Jonathan, Martin and Anna, and four grandchildren.
