Diana Lamplugh – A fearless campaigner

Paul and Diana Lamplugh in 2000



Sometimes we have no right to expect somebody to be brave. Sometimes the awfulness of an event should crush a person’s spirit and we have no right or expectation to believe they will ever recover. Such was the blow which befell Diana Lamplugh on a sunny July day in 1986. Her daughter was, Suzy Lamplugh, the 25-year-old London estate agent who went to meet a client known only as "Mr Kipper", and was never seen again.





Police search for clues after Suzy's disappearance in 1986



Suzy's body was never found. She was declared dead in 1994, and finally, in 2002, the police named a convicted murderer and rapist, John Cannan, as her likely killer, but they neither obtained a confession, nor brought him to trial. Cannan denied involvement. A year later, after a severe stroke, Diana was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and spent the rest of her life in care. Her husband, who survives her, visited her daily. The great sadness is in her final years Diana lost all memory of Suzy, whose name she kept alive by founding The Suzy Lamplugh Trust which campaigns to improve personal safety, particularly on public transport. It is an important campaigning organisation which has increased awareness and changed attitudes and Diana’s contribution was to ensure that from the evil of Suzy’s disappearance good would flow. She died peacefully today and this statement was issued by The Suzy Lamplugh Trust which she founded.





Suzy Lamplugh



“Diana Lamplugh OBE died peacefully in her sleep this morning after suffering a second massive stroke. This followed the first stroke in 2003 and a nine year battle with Alzheimer’s.



After the disappearance of her daughter, Suzy, in 1986, Diana and her husband, Paul, founded Suzy Lamplugh Trust and for over sixteen years she was the powerhouse behind this well-known national charity for personal safety. She received her OBE in 1992.



Paul Infield, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said:



“Diana was one of those people who contributed energy, focus and commitment to everything she did. With her husband, Paul, she was tireless in establishing, through the Trust, the concept of and discipline for personal safety – now a household expression – as a positive life skill for people of all ages and occupations. All responsible organisations now have a personal safety policy.







“Her message is as relevant today as when she started campaigning following Suzy’s disappearance. Whilst she will be sorely missed, the trustees and staff of the Trust are determined that our work will continue to fulfil Diana’s vision of improving people’s personal safety by giving them the knowledge and skills to enable them to live life to the full – avoiding aggression and violence.”



A charismatic speaker and tireless campaigner, Diana led the Trust in successfully campaigning for changes in law and procedures regarding safer working practices; safe travel in minicabs; safer travel on trains and safer stations; safer car parks; the treatment and sentencing of sex offenders; helping vulnerable young people and victims of crime; protection from stalking and harassment, treatment of young offenders and many others. She received for her work Honorary Doctorates from four Universities.



It is a credit to the groundwork she laid during the early years that the Trust – which celebrates its 25 Anniversary this year – continues to be a well- respected and active charity, continuing and expanding the work that Diana started.”



"Diana will be sorely missed by her husband Paul, her children Richard, Tamsin and Lizzie, her seven grandchildren, as well as the rest of her family and friends."



In 1999, Libby Purves wrote this of Diana’s legacy:



“….the Trust is a national asset, its influence nationwide, its renown and awards international…..the work of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust has made us feel less, not more, afraid.”







I had met Diana Lamplugh and felt the full force of her campaigning zeal. For many years I looked after (amongst other stuff) the finances of an Area of the British Transport Police. It was due to have an inspection by the HMIC – Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. This provides the quality assurance for the Police Service in England and Wales. I was asked to provide an overview of the budgeting process and how resources were prioritised. So about a week before the “Inspection” I met the Inspector’s Staff Officer who did the prelimary fact-finding. So a week later I was ushered in to meet the Inspector and present my piece. This being the Police it was somewhat formal, indeed to the point of reminding me of a Court Martial where I was the defendant!



I sat alone and facing me was a table with three people behind it. The Inspector who was a former Chief Constable in full formal uniform with his baton and cap on the table, his Staff Officer similarly attired and a middle aged lady with glasses, none other than Diana Lamplugh as the civilian member of the Police Committee. Well I got into my stride and emphasised our view that when a passenger bought a ticket part of what they were buying was an expectation of a safe journey. I outlined the budget drivers, our partnership approach with the Police, the resources and support we made available to them over many years (far more than elsewhere in the industry), our integrated control centre with the Police and our drive for increased efficiency and maximising visible front line policing.







It was all going well, probably too well when I was mugged by Diana. “Well Mr. C” she intoned in her quiet but insistent voice “that is all very well but as we speak there are hundreds of foreigners arriving at Waterloo Station (then the Eurostar Terminus) not speaking a word of English and being prey to every mugger and pickpocket in London. And at a time like that you want to cut the Police Budget. It is madness I tell you! Madness!” With the suggestion of my putative insanity ringing in my ears I argued back making the point that we were actually looking for more bangs for our bucks tackling bad practice and we wanted more resources devoted to what passengers were telling us was important to them. After an hour my session with HMIC was over and I left exhausted feeling I had done at least 15 rounds. To compound my feeling I knew Diana was at a reception with our Managing Director later that evening and I was imagining the conversation “Well Denis, he seemed nice enough in an Irish sort of way but what he was proposing was MAD, MAD I tell you!” Strangely I must have got my points across for when the HMIC report was published I was commended in it and received a letter of thanks from the Area Commander. Indeed, what was even stranger was I was the only Finance Officer commended and I was the only one who didn’t actually work for the Force!



As for Diana I remember her passion and insistence that personal safety came first. Not for her the quiet consensus or the reliance on CCTV so loved of the Police as “evidence”, to Diana that was irrelevant to her what was important was the passenger’s security first and foremost. With her evangelical zeal and singular focus she reminded us and society at large what our duty of care really was and she both set the agenda and stimulated the debate.







To have found such strength from the horror of her daughter’s abduction and murder required real courage and bravery and these were qualities Diana Lamplugh had by the bucket load. This makes even sadder her decline in her final years which robbed us of such an effective advocate. It should also be remembered that she was supported in those years by her Solicitor husband Paul who was very much a co-partner with Diana in setting up the Trust in their daughter’s name and driving forward its agenda. She will be sorely missed but the campaign and work she started continues.



Diana Lamplugh OBE, Personal Safety Campaigner, died 18th August 2011, aged 75.



This is the site of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust which will continue Diana Lamplugh’s work;



http://www.suzylamplugh.org

Diana Lamplugh – A fearless campaigner

Paul and Diana Lamplugh in 2000



Sometimes we have no right to expect somebody to be brave. Sometimes the awfulness of an event should crush a person’s spirit and we have no right or expectation to believe they will ever recover. Such was the blow which befell Diana Lamplugh on a sunny July day in 1986. Her daughter was, Suzy Lamplugh, the 25-year-old London estate agent who went to meet a client known only as "Mr Kipper", and was never seen again.





Police search for clues after Suzy's disappearance in 1986



Suzy's body was never found. She was declared dead in 1994, and finally, in 2002, the police named a convicted murderer and rapist, John Cannan, as her likely killer, but they neither obtained a confession, nor brought him to trial. Cannan denied involvement. A year later, after a severe stroke, Diana was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and spent the rest of her life in care. Her husband, who survives her, visited her daily. The great sadness is in her final years Diana lost all memory of Suzy, whose name she kept alive by founding The Suzy Lamplugh Trust which campaigns to improve personal safety, particularly on public transport. It is an important campaigning organisation which has increased awareness and changed attitudes and Diana’s contribution was to ensure that from the evil of Suzy’s disappearance good would flow. She died peacefully today and this statement was issued by The Suzy Lamplugh Trust which she founded.





Suzy Lamplugh



“Diana Lamplugh OBE died peacefully in her sleep this morning after suffering a second massive stroke. This followed the first stroke in 2003 and a nine year battle with Alzheimer’s.



After the disappearance of her daughter, Suzy, in 1986, Diana and her husband, Paul, founded Suzy Lamplugh Trust and for over sixteen years she was the powerhouse behind this well-known national charity for personal safety. She received her OBE in 1992.



Paul Infield, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said:



“Diana was one of those people who contributed energy, focus and commitment to everything she did. With her husband, Paul, she was tireless in establishing, through the Trust, the concept of and discipline for personal safety – now a household expression – as a positive life skill for people of all ages and occupations. All responsible organisations now have a personal safety policy.







“Her message is as relevant today as when she started campaigning following Suzy’s disappearance. Whilst she will be sorely missed, the trustees and staff of the Trust are determined that our work will continue to fulfil Diana’s vision of improving people’s personal safety by giving them the knowledge and skills to enable them to live life to the full – avoiding aggression and violence.”



A charismatic speaker and tireless campaigner, Diana led the Trust in successfully campaigning for changes in law and procedures regarding safer working practices; safe travel in minicabs; safer travel on trains and safer stations; safer car parks; the treatment and sentencing of sex offenders; helping vulnerable young people and victims of crime; protection from stalking and harassment, treatment of young offenders and many others. She received for her work Honorary Doctorates from four Universities.



It is a credit to the groundwork she laid during the early years that the Trust – which celebrates its 25 Anniversary this year – continues to be a well- respected and active charity, continuing and expanding the work that Diana started.”



"Diana will be sorely missed by her husband Paul, her children Richard, Tamsin and Lizzie, her seven grandchildren, as well as the rest of her family and friends."



In 1999, Libby Purves wrote this of Diana’s legacy:



“….the Trust is a national asset, its influence nationwide, its renown and awards international…..the work of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust has made us feel less, not more, afraid.”







I had met Diana Lamplugh and felt the full force of her campaigning zeal. For many years I looked after (amongst other stuff) the finances of an Area of the British Transport Police. It was due to have an inspection by the HMIC – Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. This provides the quality assurance for the Police Service in England and Wales. I was asked to provide an overview of the budgeting process and how resources were prioritised. So about a week before the “Inspection” I met the Inspector’s Staff Officer who did the prelimary fact-finding. So a week later I was ushered in to meet the Inspector and present my piece. This being the Police it was somewhat formal, indeed to the point of reminding me of a Court Martial where I was the defendant!



I sat alone and facing me was a table with three people behind it. The Inspector who was a former Chief Constable in full formal uniform with his baton and cap on the table, his Staff Officer similarly attired and a middle aged lady with glasses, none other than Diana Lamplugh as the civilian member of the Police Committee. Well I got into my stride and emphasised our view that when a passenger bought a ticket part of what they were buying was an expectation of a safe journey. I outlined the budget drivers, our partnership approach with the Police, the resources and support we made available to them over many years (far more than elsewhere in the industry), our integrated control centre with the Police and our drive for increased efficiency and maximising visible front line policing.







It was all going well, probably too well when I was mugged by Diana. “Well Mr. C” she intoned in her quiet but insistent voice “that is all very well but as we speak there are hundreds of foreigners arriving at Waterloo Station (then the Eurostar Terminus) not speaking a word of English and being prey to every mugger and pickpocket in London. And at a time like that you want to cut the Police Budget. It is madness I tell you! Madness!” With the suggestion of my putative insanity ringing in my ears I argued back making the point that we were actually looking for more bangs for our bucks tackling bad practice and we wanted more resources devoted to what passengers were telling us was important to them. After an hour my session with HMIC was over and I left exhausted feeling I had done at least 15 rounds. To compound my feeling I knew Diana was at a reception with our Managing Director later that evening and I was imagining the conversation “Well Denis, he seemed nice enough in an Irish sort of way but what he was proposing was MAD, MAD I tell you!” Strangely I must have got my points across for when the HMIC report was published I was commended in it and received a letter of thanks from the Area Commander. Indeed, what was even stranger was I was the only Finance Officer commended and I was the only one who didn’t actually work for the Force!



As for Diana I remember her passion and insistence that personal safety came first. Not for her the quiet consensus or the reliance on CCTV so loved of the Police as “evidence”, to Diana that was irrelevant to her what was important was the passenger’s security first and foremost. With her evangelical zeal and singular focus she reminded us and society at large what our duty of care really was and she both set the agenda and stimulated the debate.







To have found such strength from the horror of her daughter’s abduction and murder required real courage and bravery and these were qualities Diana Lamplugh had by the bucket load. This makes even sadder her decline in her final years which robbed us of such an effective advocate. It should also be remembered that she was supported in those years by her Solicitor husband Paul who was very much a co-partner with Diana in setting up the Trust in their daughter’s name and driving forward its agenda. She will be sorely missed but the campaign and work she started continues.



Diana Lamplugh OBE, Personal Safety Campaigner, died 18th August 2011, aged 75.



This is the site of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust which will continue Diana Lamplugh’s work;



http://www.suzylamplugh.org

Walktalk

Everybody has a certain degree of human courage that they can draw on in a difficult situation but human courage only goes so far. In our quieter moments we all must consider how we would cope with catastrophe and tragedy and whether the experience would crush or strengthen us. This is probably the reason most of us admire people who have experienced tragedy and instead of being crushed find an inner strength to fight back. I have thought about this over the weekend seeing the bravery of Gill Hicks, a victim of the London bombings on 7th July 2005, who lost both legs in the attack and who has completed a 250 mile walk from Leeds on her artificial limbs to publicise her Walktalk charity. She is one of a number of remarkable women who have found strength in adversity and then gone on to make a positive contribution which reinforces our common humanity and having been confronted with evil have renewed our faith in human goodness.


One such person was Diana Lamplugh who responded to the traumatic disappearance of her daughter Suzy Lamplugh by becoming an indomitable advocate for reducing the fear of crime by raising awareness of the importance of personal safety and helping to provide solutions to help people, particularly young women like Suzy, avoid violence and aggression and live safer, more confident lives. In 1986 Suzy Lamplugh, a 25 year old estate agent disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. So far her body has not been found. However, she has been presumed murdered and legally declared dead. Her parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, believed that Suzy, like most people at that time - and even now - was simply unaware of the possible dangers that individuals can face in society. Paul and Diana founded the Trust to highlight the risks people face and to offer advice, action and support to minimise those risks. I met Diana when she was a member of the Police Committee of the Transport Police representing the public interest. She was a tireless advocate for improving public safety and intolerant of excuses, no matter how practical, of not doing so. I greatly admired her spirit and determination in the face of the terrible loss of her daughter and the cruel uncertainty of not knowing what had happened to her or where her body was. Diana has suffered a severe stroke since and has contracted Alzheimer’s but the work is continued by the trust and her husband, Paul who has always been the organiser behind the scenes.

The attacks by four suicide bombers on the London Transport system on 7th July 2005 were the largest mass murder in Britain in peacetime killing 52 passengers on The Tube and on the No. 30 bus at Tavistock Square and injuring 800 more, many seriously. Injured or not, and serious or not all who lived through the experience carry vivid and unsettling memories. There is a curious obscenity about suicide bombing, about the personal fascism which rationalises killing yourself and complete strangers you have first looked in the eye because you have convinced yourself it is for a greater good. There is a particular perversity, if you have religious faith, in destroying what you believe are God’s creations because you have appointed yourself as God’s representative and indeed have convinced yourself that shortly afterwards you will be personally thanked by Him.

Of the bombings the greatest loss of life was caused by a 19 year old Muslim convert living in Aylesbury (where he was not known to the local Muslim community) Germaine Lindsay who had married a local girl and had a young son. At 08.50 hrs a bomb exploded on Piccadilly line train number 331 travelling south from King's Cross station to Russell Square. The device was next to the rear set of double doors in the front carriage of the train. Twenty-six people, plus the bomber, were killed. More than 340 were injured. The Piccadilly line is 21.3 metres (70 feet) below ground at this point. Intense heat of up to 60C, dust, fumes, vermin, asbestos and initial concerns the tunnel might collapse delayed the extraction of bodies and the forensic operation. Being a single track deep tube line the force of the explosion was concentrated in a smaller area accounting for the high number of deaths as well as the number and the severity of the injuries caused.

Rachel North

One of the survivors Rachel North wrote a compelling diary for the BBC News website in which she detailed her experiences and emotions on 7 July and the days that followed. Her story is more complex as she was rebuilding her life at the time after a rape attack and since the bombing she has been harassed by an obsessive stalker who has since been jailed. Her story is told in this article in the Times Newspaper; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article597033.ece

She has maintained a Blog (Rachel from North London in my BlogRoll on the right sidebar) detailing her experiences, her effort to rebuild her life and campaigning for a public enquiry into the events of 7th July 2005 – here she explains why in her own words;

“Lessons 'not learnt'

It's not about blame, or politics, I say, it is about saving lives. I truthfully don't think all the lessons of 7th July have been learned and shared amongst all the agencies and people who need to prepare for and respond to disasters and terror attacks - which include the public itself. And until the learning’s are shared, as publicly as possible without compromising the safety of the realm, how can the public feel any safer than they did on 7th July?

I would love to step away from the devastation of 7th July that still haunts my dreams. Campaigning for answers is not something I do to bring "closure"; it is tiring and it is hard work. But I strongly believe that it is the right thing to do. I couldn't help the people who died and were hurt on the train but I can try to help people now, to tell what happened so that people can learn from it, understand, be safer.

I continue to write of my journey after 7th July, the personal and political fall-out, on my personal blog.”

Some have unfairly accused her of publicity seeking but in her efforts I see great honesty and openness which I am sure just doesn’t help her cope with the traumatic aftermath but also helps her co-survivors and many others who have experienced great trauma.

In that same Piccadilly Line train as Rachel North was a woman who lost both legs and who completed a 250-mile walk which she hopes will help unite communities. Gill Hicks, 38, took 30 days to walk from Leeds to London, stopping in 22 towns and cities along the way. Her Walktalk project aimed to help people of different faiths and communities to engage with each other. Arriving in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 17th August 2008, she said a "belief in humanity" helped her complete the journey. Gill Hicks walked from Leeds - the city where three of the suicide bombers lived - to London to prove that people of different faiths can live together. She was the last person to be pulled from the wreckage of the Piccadilly Line carriage in 2005 and "died" twice on the way to hospital. Despite her injuries she has learned to jump, jog and climb stairs on the prosthetic legs her doctors fitted.

Gill Hicks finishes walk in Trafalgar Square

She began the Walktalk in Leeds as three of the four suicide bombers, who killed 52 people and injured nearly 800, had links with the city. The walk first headed to the Beeston area, where bombers Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain lived and where their leader, Mohammed Sidique Khan, had many connections. At the end of her month-long trek, she said: "All of us stepped into this journey with great faith and great belief that humanity would carry us through from town to town and that's exactly what happened. "For me to walk from Leeds to London is probably the single most difficult thing I could ever have imagined. I still can't quite believe that I have achieved it but I never gave up because of the people that never gave up on me."

Her husband, Joe Kerr, 48, said: "We've come on a small journey in the scale of things, but a large journey for us, of hope, of optimism, of reconciliation. The journey to build a better and fairer and more equitable society is a journey we must all continue on relentlessly and continue on together. We can build a society that's based on mutual respect, which respects difference but recognises our common humanity."

Perhaps I should leave the final word to Rachel North describing the actions of the Piccadilly Line train driver on the 7th July;

“The train driver stayed behind on his train and once the front of carriage one, where I was, was cleared of frightened passengers, he was able to walk into the horrific aftermath of Europe's most deadly suicide bomb attack. He has never spoken publicly of what he did, what he saw. But I know now how he stayed for nearly two hours, trying to save lives. I dare not imagine what it was like. I wish I had known how many were hurt. I wish I had been able to help them.”

Here are the websites for Walktalk and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust – Organisations which deserve our support and which are a vibrant and practical testament to the courage of some very special people.


http://www.walktalk.org.uk/

http://www.suzylamplugh.org/

Walktalk

Everybody has a certain degree of human courage that they can draw on in a difficult situation but human courage only goes so far. In our quieter moments we all must consider how we would cope with catastrophe and tragedy and whether the experience would crush or strengthen us. This is probably the reason most of us admire people who have experienced tragedy and instead of being crushed find an inner strength to fight back. I have thought about this over the weekend seeing the bravery of Gill Hicks, a victim of the London bombings on 7th July 2005, who lost both legs in the attack and who has completed a 250 mile walk from Leeds on her artificial limbs to publicise her Walktalk charity. She is one of a number of remarkable women who have found strength in adversity and then gone on to make a positive contribution which reinforces our common humanity and having been confronted with evil have renewed our faith in human goodness.


One such person was Diana Lamplugh who responded to the traumatic disappearance of her daughter Suzy Lamplugh by becoming an indomitable advocate for reducing the fear of crime by raising awareness of the importance of personal safety and helping to provide solutions to help people, particularly young women like Suzy, avoid violence and aggression and live safer, more confident lives. In 1986 Suzy Lamplugh, a 25 year old estate agent disappeared after she went to meet an unknown client. So far her body has not been found. However, she has been presumed murdered and legally declared dead. Her parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, believed that Suzy, like most people at that time - and even now - was simply unaware of the possible dangers that individuals can face in society. Paul and Diana founded the Trust to highlight the risks people face and to offer advice, action and support to minimise those risks. I met Diana when she was a member of the Police Committee of the Transport Police representing the public interest. She was a tireless advocate for improving public safety and intolerant of excuses, no matter how practical, of not doing so. I greatly admired her spirit and determination in the face of the terrible loss of her daughter and the cruel uncertainty of not knowing what had happened to her or where her body was. Diana has suffered a severe stroke since and has contracted Alzheimer’s but the work is continued by the trust and her husband, Paul who has always been the organiser behind the scenes.

The attacks by four suicide bombers on the London Transport system on 7th July 2005 were the largest mass murder in Britain in peacetime killing 52 passengers on The Tube and on the No. 30 bus at Tavistock Square and injuring 800 more, many seriously. Injured or not, and serious or not all who lived through the experience carry vivid and unsettling memories. There is a curious obscenity about suicide bombing, about the personal fascism which rationalises killing yourself and complete strangers you have first looked in the eye because you have convinced yourself it is for a greater good. There is a particular perversity, if you have religious faith, in destroying what you believe are God’s creations because you have appointed yourself as God’s representative and indeed have convinced yourself that shortly afterwards you will be personally thanked by Him.

Of the bombings the greatest loss of life was caused by a 19 year old Muslim convert living in Aylesbury (where he was not known to the local Muslim community) Germaine Lindsay who had married a local girl and had a young son. At 08.50 hrs a bomb exploded on Piccadilly line train number 331 travelling south from King's Cross station to Russell Square. The device was next to the rear set of double doors in the front carriage of the train. Twenty-six people, plus the bomber, were killed. More than 340 were injured. The Piccadilly line is 21.3 metres (70 feet) below ground at this point. Intense heat of up to 60C, dust, fumes, vermin, asbestos and initial concerns the tunnel might collapse delayed the extraction of bodies and the forensic operation. Being a single track deep tube line the force of the explosion was concentrated in a smaller area accounting for the high number of deaths as well as the number and the severity of the injuries caused.

Rachel North

One of the survivors Rachel North wrote a compelling diary for the BBC News website in which she detailed her experiences and emotions on 7 July and the days that followed. Her story is more complex as she was rebuilding her life at the time after a rape attack and since the bombing she has been harassed by an obsessive stalker who has since been jailed. Her story is told in this article in the Times Newspaper; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article597033.ece

She has maintained a Blog (Rachel from North London in my BlogRoll on the right sidebar) detailing her experiences, her effort to rebuild her life and campaigning for a public enquiry into the events of 7th July 2005 – here she explains why in her own words;

“Lessons 'not learnt'

It's not about blame, or politics, I say, it is about saving lives. I truthfully don't think all the lessons of 7th July have been learned and shared amongst all the agencies and people who need to prepare for and respond to disasters and terror attacks - which include the public itself. And until the learning’s are shared, as publicly as possible without compromising the safety of the realm, how can the public feel any safer than they did on 7th July?

I would love to step away from the devastation of 7th July that still haunts my dreams. Campaigning for answers is not something I do to bring "closure"; it is tiring and it is hard work. But I strongly believe that it is the right thing to do. I couldn't help the people who died and were hurt on the train but I can try to help people now, to tell what happened so that people can learn from it, understand, be safer.

I continue to write of my journey after 7th July, the personal and political fall-out, on my personal blog.”

Some have unfairly accused her of publicity seeking but in her efforts I see great honesty and openness which I am sure just doesn’t help her cope with the traumatic aftermath but also helps her co-survivors and many others who have experienced great trauma.

In that same Piccadilly Line train as Rachel North was a woman who lost both legs and who completed a 250-mile walk which she hopes will help unite communities. Gill Hicks, 38, took 30 days to walk from Leeds to London, stopping in 22 towns and cities along the way. Her Walktalk project aimed to help people of different faiths and communities to engage with each other. Arriving in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 17th August 2008, she said a "belief in humanity" helped her complete the journey. Gill Hicks walked from Leeds - the city where three of the suicide bombers lived - to London to prove that people of different faiths can live together. She was the last person to be pulled from the wreckage of the Piccadilly Line carriage in 2005 and "died" twice on the way to hospital. Despite her injuries she has learned to jump, jog and climb stairs on the prosthetic legs her doctors fitted.

Gill Hicks finishes walk in Trafalgar Square

She began the Walktalk in Leeds as three of the four suicide bombers, who killed 52 people and injured nearly 800, had links with the city. The walk first headed to the Beeston area, where bombers Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain lived and where their leader, Mohammed Sidique Khan, had many connections. At the end of her month-long trek, she said: "All of us stepped into this journey with great faith and great belief that humanity would carry us through from town to town and that's exactly what happened. "For me to walk from Leeds to London is probably the single most difficult thing I could ever have imagined. I still can't quite believe that I have achieved it but I never gave up because of the people that never gave up on me."

Her husband, Joe Kerr, 48, said: "We've come on a small journey in the scale of things, but a large journey for us, of hope, of optimism, of reconciliation. The journey to build a better and fairer and more equitable society is a journey we must all continue on relentlessly and continue on together. We can build a society that's based on mutual respect, which respects difference but recognises our common humanity."

Perhaps I should leave the final word to Rachel North describing the actions of the Piccadilly Line train driver on the 7th July;

“The train driver stayed behind on his train and once the front of carriage one, where I was, was cleared of frightened passengers, he was able to walk into the horrific aftermath of Europe's most deadly suicide bomb attack. He has never spoken publicly of what he did, what he saw. But I know now how he stayed for nearly two hours, trying to save lives. I dare not imagine what it was like. I wish I had known how many were hurt. I wish I had been able to help them.”

Here are the websites for Walktalk and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust – Organisations which deserve our support and which are a vibrant and practical testament to the courage of some very special people.


http://www.walktalk.org.uk/

http://www.suzylamplugh.org/