John Hayward

It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our friend, John Hayward who died on November 24th 2011, aged 57. For those of you who may not have known him well, he was one of the founding members of EYLA and has been with us through the ups and downs of the last ten years.

During this last year John was able to spend more time with us having been made redundant by his previous employer. He was a man of many talents – DIY expert, teacher, motivator, counsellor, musician and so much more. He was loyal, caring and probably the funniest man we know.

John shared the vision for EYLA from the beginning; he is in the very foundations. For a

time he chaired the board of trustees with passion and integrity. He was a sounding board, a critic, an action man - a tower of strength and an integral team member. Staff meetings will never be the same again! He inspired, motivated and loved the young leaders and they loved him. He shared his DIY skills with them in special workshops and some of them loved to assist him around the building as he fixed things for us.  He made an art out of reading – his creative and novel ways of teaching the boys has significantly accelerated their reading ages – they can still hear his voice in the books he recorded for them.

John was a man of faith and this was highly evident throughout his illness. He was not afraid of death and as the end neared so his confidence in God soared. The Bible says that hope does not disappoint and we are assured that he will not be disappointed.

John was a family man leaving behind his beloved

wife, Carol, his children - Mark, Nikki, Lee and Rachel and his four grandchildren. He was devoted to them and proud of them all.

We recognise that our lives are richer because of John and all that he did for us and meant to us. As a tribute to John, the Eastside library which he constructed will be named after him and an annual trophy for Outstanding Young Leader of the Year will be awarded in his honour.

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