I met Caroline in 2012.  I’d set up a stall on the edge of Forest Hill Pools for the ‘Grand Opening’.  The mayor of Lewisham was to cut the ribbon at 11:00 and there was a festive mood with tea and cakes.

On my stall were pictures of underwater hockey, hats, bats, a couple of pucks + a big sheet asking people to put their contact details for when the new hockey club would open.  Caroline was the second person on the list.  I got some old second-hand hockey goals and we eventually opened in 2013. Caroline was a founding member.  She kept the club records and collected people’s subs to hopefully cover the cost of the pool hire.

Over the next 10 years she became a very close friend.  When my builder mate needed accommodation, I persuaded her to take him in as a lodger.  When Wlodek went home to Poland, Caroline, Shelley, and I visited him and his girlfriend in Szczecin. Caroline was so excited about our trip, and us doing a day-out-tourist-thing to Berlin.

She was planning a new adventure when she was tragically struck down. I have looked forward to seeing Caroline every week and sharing a meal and green tea with her in the Fortune Inn.  Caroline was a wonderful Christian lady. In her early life, she’d been a missionary in India and Bangladesh, sharing her kindness and caring with every person she met. During the pandemic she moved her local church services online with evening prayer groups from her home.

Caroline even moved in with early-discharged members of her church, who were cleared out from hospital to make way for Covid-19 critical people.

Caroline’s selfless giving of her time and love, with a smile, was and is, a wonderful example of a caring human being.  

She’ll be greatly missed.

Alan Quarterman