I was going to blog today about a couple of things that the ever-reliable Senscot newsletter reminded me of (namely, the widening of the definition of a social firm, and the Triodos ethical women awards), but then, reading the paper on the way home, I read the obituary of Luke Fitzherbert, and that all faded into the background.

For those who don’t know, Luke was a stalwart of the voluntary sector, created the original guide to major trusts for the Directory of Social Change, a voice of sanity and reason…and a remarkable fount of knowledge on fundraising, administration and transparency in the sector. He was also immensely influential, particularly on campaigning for greater rigour and clarity from grant-making trusts and foundations. He was an expert witness several times on SSE programmes, most recently at our Dartington residential in 2006 (one of the few venues he could cycle to, as he liked best to do). He gave fantastic advice and distilled wisdom to those present, with his normal inspirational mix of passion and integrity: as ever, he enthused about the small and the local, about helping those who need help most, and about the practical possibilities of making change with or without funds.

[He also gave great advice and help to one of our students in particular, Dave Pitchford of Intelligent Giving: you can read Dave’s tribute on the IG blog]

The Guardian obituary in the Society section last week was followed by one in the main section today. It makes me sad that I was too busy to notice this news last week, and also sad because it reminds me of the loss of another great iconoclast of the sector, my former colleague Nicholas Albery. Also a great user of human-powered transport (though walking, rather than cycling in his case), and who also died tragically in a traffic accident.

I only met Luke a couple of times, so don’t profess to have known him well. If you did, and wish to leave a tribute, you can do so via the DSC website…where you can also make a donation to a fund in his honour. The ever-growing page of tributes and condolences demonstrates the impact he had on a huge number of lives, and how sorely he will be missed.