THIS week we record the lives of two extraordinary public-spirited people – Avis Hutt, a nurse (page 13) and Godfrey Ridler, a teacher (page 20).
They didn’t hold high office.  Nor were they in positions of power. But they dedicated their lives to the public good, and as such helped society move forward.   Their spirits caught the imagination of people within their circle and beyond.
Mr Ridler taught for more than 30 years at a small junior school in Holborn.
A committed teacher, a born educator, he could probably have moved on to higher things. But he stayed at the school he loved, helped to save it from closure, and won the friendship and affection of thousands of parents and children.
Avis Hutt was a nurse, an extraordinary political activist, but, essentially, a nurse all her working life. Politically, she was one of an army of people who helped lay the foundation of the National Health Service, a cause alone that made her life significant. As she grew older, Avis, using her nursing knowledge, helped the elderly improve their lifestyle.
The lives of such people often go unrecorded in today’s media, especially the celebrity-obsessed end of it. But their lives bind society together – and it is all the better for them.

A memorial long overdue

MORE than four years ago we appealed to readers to donate money for a memorial to the tens of thousands of servicemen who died in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps in the Far East.
There are far too few memorials to these gallant men in Britain.  There is none in Camden. The planning behind the memorial, its design and location in the borough was delegated to outside volunteers.
A memorial was sculpted and a planning application was submitted to Camden Council for it to be laid in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. But the application was rejected for various reasons, including an objection from a local amenity body.
We apologise that we were unable to promptly submit a new application but this is now being filed with Camden Council.
An entirely new design has been created which, we hope, will become a feature of public art, as well as a lasting memorial to our POWs. This time we are applying for the memorial to be set down in the traffic island in Mornington Crescent facing the statue to the reformer Richard Cobden.
We believe this is an ideal site – and we trust the council will allow the plans to be speedily approved.