Eugenie Cheesmond 1919-2007, Founder of the Lifeline day centre 1971
A couple of years ago, after a fairly heated debate in a TV studio about the way our society treats people who use drugs – the man I had been arguing with approached me. "Lifeline, that’s the organisation founded by Eugenie Cheesmond isn’t it? He said", "I met her recently. She’s in her eighties now, but she’s still a fiery old bird".
Dr Cheesmond left Lifeline before I started working for the charity, so I never had the pleasure of meeting her. However, I wasn’t at all surprised at this man’s, somewhat politically incorrect, description of our founder, in fact I felt quite proud of her and the organisation that she started.
Lifeline has grown enormously since1971 and although it has changed in many ways, I hope what it will never loose is the courage to stand up for the needs and rights of the poorest and most marginalised group of people in our society – drug users. And if that makes us unpopular at times or we get called fiery (we’ve been called a lot worse) then so be it. We are just carrying on in the spirit that Eugenie instilled in the organisation from the beginning. I hope she would have been proud of what she started
Michael Linnell
Director of Communications -Lifeline
Links:
http://www.photoblog.com/Sevendipity/2007/10/19/
