My grandmother Eve Thompson, who has died aged 95, was variously a theatre stage manager, a secretary and a nursery nurse – until later in life she became involved in voluntary work and advocacy, particularly in relation to mental health.
After Eve’s son Ben was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1980s, she volunteered for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship (now Rethink Mental Illness), working with service users, carers and professionals to improve services, establish supported housing and ensure families received the help they needed.
