Obituary: Death of devoted Soho community worker Janet Vance

Published: 03 June 2011
by JOSH LOEB

JANET Vance, who passed away on Friday aged 62, was by turns a trainee accountant, a “foot model” and a publican, but she will be best remembered around Soho for her work at the local parish church, where she was a “powerful and loving presence”. 

Born in Charing Cross Hospital in 1948, she grew up a stone’s throw from the then bombsite of St Anne’s Church, which had suffered a direct hit during the Blitz.

Ms Vance  (née Blyghton) attended Soho Parish School, then known as St James and St Peters, and went on to study at the Grey Coat School, where she worked towards becoming an accountant.

She eventually decided against this career as, according to a friend, she could not face sitting the final exam. But she retained a flair for mathematics and could reportedly do sums faster than a computer.

There followed a spell modelling footwear and running a pub in Peckham. 

Ms Vance was married for a time but the couple had gone their separate ways by the time she returned to Soho and, after the rebuilt St Anne’s was opened in the early 1990s, she devoted herself to community work. 

Despite her disability – Ms Vance was a bilateral amputee and was confined to a wheelchair – she was extremely active, organising trips to the seaside and bingo clubs for pensioners.

She was involved in the Soho Society for many years and was instrumental in establishing the Soho Community Centre Trust (SCCT) and organising Christmas pantomimes. 

Lesley Lewis, who runs the French House pub, opposite St Anne’s, remembered Ms Vance as “good for a giggle” and “the life and soul”.

And former St Anne’s church warden Michael Moran said: “It’s hard to imagine who will fill the void at St Anne’s and in Soho created by Janet’s unexpected and untimely death.”  

Tributes were also paid by Soho Society honorary president Leslie Hardcastle and Margaret Bailey, a pensioner and member of the St Anne’s congregation who Ms Vance helped look after for many years. A minute’s silence was observed during last Sunday’s service at St Anne’s and funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.

The cause of Ms Vance’s death is yet to be established.