My mother, June Diamond, who has died aged 76, was a teacher in secondary, adult and higher education in Yorkshire, including as deputy director of a pioneering adult education centre in Leeds, The Basement, which provided counselling and practical support for long-term unemployed people. Latterly she was a lecturer in education at Leeds University.
Born in Leicester, she was the daughter of Jean (nee Donaldson) and Francis Hurst, the managing director of his family’s textiles business. After attending Leicester girls’ grammar school she gained an English literature and American studies degree from the University of East Anglia, then did teacher training in York.
