My father, Mike Tomlin, who has died aged 91, was driven by his Unitarian beliefs to do whatever he could for his community to leave the world a better place. Following his retirement in 1990 from his job as a tax inspector, he set up and took part in several charitable organisations dealing with social deprivation across Teesside.
He was treasurer and chair of the Teesside One World Centre, which promoted global justice and equality through education, and a founder and chair of Frade, which collects, repairs and redistributes furniture. In 2006, Mike joined a group of concerned individuals as treasurer to set up Justice First, based in Stockton-on-Tees, whose main concern is to support people who seek asylum in the UK.
