My friend Damaris Le Grand, who has died aged 79, was a social worker and policy innovator who later spent many years as a volunteer supporting refugees. Her life reflected her determination to make the world a better place.
Known to everyone as Dammy, she was born in Norwich, the middle of three children of Betty (nee Southgate), a teacher, and Nigel Robertson-Glasgow, a vicar in Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, where Dammy grew up.
After Brackley high school, Dammy worked as a secretary in Oxford, Basel and London before moving in 1967 to Philadelphia in the US, where she worked as a secretary in the law school at the University of Pennsylvania. The state’s brutal reaction to protests about the Vietnam war and civil and women’s rights had a huge impact, strengthening her resolve to challenge wrongs and create change. While in the US she met the academic and policy adviser Julian Le Grand and, after their marriage in 1971, they returned to Britain, settling in Brighton.
After qualifying as a social worker at Croydon Technical College, Dammy worked in Brighton social services. This is where we met and where she forged other lasting friendships. She joined the Labour party, remaining a member all her life.
As mother to daughters Polly and Zoe, Dammy was fierce in her resolve to expose them to social and political matters. They have many childhood recollections of accompanying her on political demonstrations.
In 1983 the family moved to London, where Dammy worked for Camden then Lambeth councils. In 1988 came another move, to Bristol, where she did a master’s in social policy and planning at the university, then was appointed as a strategic planning officer for Avon county council (1989-96). There she was an innovator, designing the influential Avon measure for assessing mental health needs.
As a senior policy officer at Bristol city council (1996-2002) she established the South West UK office in Brussels, to be a voice for the region in Europe; as a Home Office regional manager (2002-06), she became the south-west’s “drug tsar”. Her work was always driven by unwavering commitment to improve the lives of those affected by poverty and prejudice.
In 2006 Dammy retired from paid work and volunteered with Bristol Refugee Rights. She was its first co-chair, working later with the Bristol Hospitality Network, which works alongside people seeking asylum who are facing destitution.
She applied her customary grit and humanity to this work: her ire about government refugee policy was evident, but her approach was personal and practical. Known affectionately as the “bike lady”, Dammy arranged for bikes to be given to refugees to help them travel around the city.
Dammy’s zest for life, politics, family and friends remained undimmed. She is survived by Julian, Polly and Zoe, and five grandchildren.
