John Williams, who has died aged 91, was co-founder in 1962 of FitzRoy, a charity supporting people with disabilities.
John’s son Huw had been born with learning disabilities in 1954, and he and his wife, Audrey, were horrified when doctors suggested the family should put Huw in an institution. They decided to care for Huw at home, but soon discovered what limited lives people with disabilities could face in that era, excluded from their communities and families, at high risk of abuse, and living in institutions known as sub-normality units. John and Audrey were determined to change this.
John saw an item in a Catholic newspaper about a meeting to be held in Westminster Hall, London, about the Catholic church and handicapped people organised by Elizabeth FitzRoy, whose son, Michael, had Down’s syndrome. He decided to attend, and before he left was told by Audrey, “don’t come back as a secretary or something”. He became general secretary of the Catholic Handicapped Children’s Fellowship, the organisation from which FitzRoy grew.
The aim was to help people with disabilities live within their communities, in their own “homes with a small h”, as John described it. Many professionals told them they were crazy, and that the charity would be bankrupt in six months, but instead it went from strength to strength. Beginning from one house in Grayshott, Hampshire, the organisation grew and today FitzRoy supports more than 800 people with learning disabilities.
John was born in Mumbles, Swansea, son of John, a railway worker, and his wife, Gladys. Their home was a hub for the extended family, as Gladys was the eldest of eight children and also cared for her parents in their old age. After wartime service in the Royal Navy, John began working in local government, in Coventry and later Nottingham. He married Audrey Faraday, a Roman Catholic, in 1953, and converted to Catholicism, and Huw was born the following year.
As chairman of FitzRoy for over 30 years, John was a huge inspiration and support to me when I became chief executive in 2008. His foresight and energy even in his 80s were remarkable. John was proud that the style of care encouraged by FitzRoy, and opportunities for vulnerable people to live happy and fulfilled lives, are now commonplace in social care. In 2014 he received the Mansell award for outstanding contribution to the learning disability sector from the British Institute of Learning Disabilities.
Huw died in 1981 and Audrey in 1994.
