John’s life in all its fullness John and his wife Nancy on one of their many sponsored walks.
Can you tell us about John? What sort of person was he? How did you meet? John was an energetic person and a lifelong Christian. I first met him in 1969. We met again by chance by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I was with a friend and both of us were stony broke – we didn’t even have enough money to go to the loo. John fed us both, gave us cash for the toilets and then paid for us all to go up the Eiffel Tower. Five dates later, and – well, what more can I say! We married at St Margaret’s Church in Manchester in 1972.
What sort of fundraising activities did you and John organise? Initially, we fundraised for Christian Aid in a house-to-house
John Eckersley was a fun-loving Yorkshireman who always walked the extra mile for Christian Aid. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year. We spoke to Nancy, his wife of 48 years, about what made John’s life so special. collection in York where we lived. Then while John worked as a teacher, he encouraged all the staff to take part in a sponsored relay by cycling, horse-riding and canoeing. John also loved devising his own long-distance walks, and he wrote eight walking books to raise money for Christian Aid. You can still buy his books online at johneckersley.wordpress.com/ books
You and John walked all over the country together to raise funds. Did you meet many interesting people? We met many, many generous people along the way. Once, we were walking along a quayside in Devon, carrying red balloons, and a group of homeless people in a shelter called out to us, asking
what we were doing. We explained we were raising funds for Christian Aid to help people in Sierra Leone to start fishing. One man took off his hat and went round the whole homeless shelter with it, getting everyone there to donate. It was all copper and silver coins but that £4.84 raised meant so much to us. I still get tearful when I think of it.
What can Christian Aid supporters do to help ensure John’s legacy lives on? Keep walking. Keep viewing raising funds as a joy and not a chore. Keep seeing the good in all people, whoever and wherever they are.
Coming soon… From Darkness to Light: an online service of reflection 5.30pm Tuesday 2 November, 2021 You are warmly invited to a special online service of reflection, featuring Amanda
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Mukwashi, our Chief Executive. We have all been through such enormous change and loss during these last two years, especially those who have lost a loved one. The service is a time to come together in a moment of comfort,
hope and solidarity, to remember and reflect. For more details, and to share the name of a loved one that you’d like to see remembered during our service, please visit caid.org.uk/reflection
