John Profumo

Brief description of achievement:

John Profumo died on the 9th March 2006, aged 91.

John was Toynbee Hall’s longest serving volunteer. He started volunteering at Toynbee Hall, a charitable foundation that campaigns for the rights of the poor, in the 1960s and he continued to work there for the rest of his life.

He was a passionate and innovative fundraiser for the centre. He was made President of Toynbee Hall in 1992 and he made a real contribution helping to shape social policy and its effective implementation.

John has been credited with the instigation of many innovative projects at Toynbee including the start up of its sister organisation, The Attlee Foundation, as well as a housing association, after-care unit for ex-offenders, a family centre for the mentally handicapped and a project to help people with learning disabilities lead independent lives. All the initiatives he has set up have had social policy and social change at their heart and he is still personally instrumental in inviting politicians and academics to talk to decision-makers about the importance of social change.

John has been heavily involved in fundraising for Toynbee Hall. In the late 60s and 70s he masterminded appeals that led to the creation of three unique buildings for Toynbee as well as many other major capital projects. John was also a visitor at Grenden Psychiatric Prison and has established strong links between Toynbee and former Grenden inmates.

"Over the last few years, I have been able to make a number of visits to Toynbee Hall and to speak there on one memorable evening. So I've been able to see at first hand what others have been only able to read about, namely the remarkable contribution that John Profumo has made to one of the great community charities of our time.""I make a speech at school prize givings that all of us have - and particularly those who have enjoyed special privileges - to put back into society some of what we have taken from it. With John Profumo the balance is heavily in the community's account; he has done so much with generosity and dedication over the years to light candles in some of the darker corners of life."John Profumo is an inspiration to us all and I hope that many others will be encouraged by his example to work for the good of others."

The Rt. Hon Christopher Patten

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