Hyndburn Community Network and Hyndburn Over 50s Forum have lost a valued community worker.

In June 2009 John Davis became a director and trustee at Hyndburn Community Network. He made a valuable contribution to the Network and he will be sadly missed by Board and Staff and his colleagues on the Hyndburn Over 50's Forum.

Barbara Sharples, Network Manager said, “John was a real gentleman and brought a special blend of professional experience to the Board of the Network where his knowledge and skills in management, health and safety, human resources and leadership were much appreciated and often called upon”.

John had been an enthusiastic member of the Hyndburn Over 50s Forum since 2005 and took the helm as chair person in November 2008 having spent several years as vice chairperson. Thanks to his enthusiasm and hard work, the Forum went from strength to strength and developed its role as a voice for the Over 50's in Hyndburn. John represented the Forum on numerous bodies and forums and attended meetings across Lancashire to keep local people informed on national, regional and local issues which might affect them.

He organised a week of activities and events for the Full of Life campaign and Older People's Day on 1st October 2009. John had a lot of marketing and catering experience from his working life and he used these to promote and develop the Forum. Barbara added, “He put so much time into these social activities and was an inspiration to others especially those that say they have nothing to do since they retired! He was an excellent role model for the over 50s and never complained about the workload even when he wasn’t feeling well.”

For the last eight years John has made a huge contribution to Hyndburn Better Government for Older People (BGOP) until Government funding ended. This did not deter John and his colleagues on BGOP so they formed YOU (Young and Old United) in 2009 and John took on the role of secretary. Through BGOP and YOU a great deal of intergenerational work with Hyndburn school children has been undertaken. Once a year young and old have got together and taken part in a 10-pin bowling competition to help break down the barriers between younger and older people. John was always willing to try new ways of bringing different generations together especially if it meant having fun at social events.