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Gerry and Jean Crossley

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Category: Awareness

Published on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 00:00

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Gerry and Jean have been stalwart members of the FMA UK team for so long it will certainly seem very strange not to have them alongside us, although rumour has it that although relinquishing official posts there will still be some volunteering!

Jean first started a local support group nearly 20 years ago and when Regional Co-ordinators were first suggested in 2001, she was one of the first to put her name forward.  While in post she has expanded the role significantly producing valuable information not only for the groups in her region but to share on a national basis.  She has organised regional conferences, which have run with military precision but still maintained a friendly atmosphere and provided the group leaders with much appreciated experiences.

Of course she has also supported new groups to get started and her documentation, which FMA UK uses for all new groups, is excellent and would not have been achieved without her hard work and dedication.

Jean has always volunteered for tasks when she knows she is the best to complete them and can always be relied upon to produce results of a professional standard.

We thank you Jean on behalf of the thousands who must have benefited directly and indirectly from for all your hard work and understanding over the years. We know you can never be completely replaced and certainly not by one person.

It was Jean who was initially suggesting that Gerry become a trustee 2002.  His quiet manner and head for reason have been a great asset to the board of FMA UK especially with making difficult decisions.

  When it was decided to set up a national helpline so that calls would not impact on the office workload, he volunteered for the role and has been working on this ever since.  It is one of the jobs that requires someone to be contactable each weekday in case of problems with the rota on the day and so requires a great deal of dedication.  I know ensuring that each day is covered has not been an easy task.  Gerry collates the record sheets each month and has always supplied an excellent quarterly report.

Jean and Gerry have worked as a team for FMA UK and whatever task one has undertaken the other has been involved. Jean has often had to step in to cover the helpline at short notice.  Thankfully no one can tell when she is still in her dressing gown on the phone.  Gerry has been a support for the region’s groups and a familiar face of the board of FMA UK in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

At the Y & H regional meeting in April this year jean and Gerry were presented with gifts and a cheque from money donated.  We were instructed that Gerry needed something unbreakable and this was achieved with an engraved pebble and stainless coffee pot.  Jean received and engraved glass t-light holder, books on ancestry which she is keen to start on her family and a bouquet.  A basket with yellow ducks crept in as well to join Jean’s family of fibro ducks.

We wish both of these FM ambassadors a peaceful “retirement” from their official posts and hope with the lessened pressure than can concentrate on their dreams of travel and relaxation.

Our thanks go to June Chivers for helping with the gifts and for arranging for the presentation to be part of the day.

The FMA UK team