Roy Harris became a Trustee after the death of his son, Joseph in 2017. Soon after, he was elected as Chairman and remained in this position until the end of his life on June 29, 2025. He was a quiet and unassuming Chairman, allowing the more vociferous Trustees to express their opinions at meetings, but always intervening at the most pertinent time. He liked the meetings to run efficiently and would be happy to chivvy us along if he thought we had spent enough time on a particular point, with his characteristic ‘on, on’.
Roy did a lot more behind the scenes than anyone ever realised; he was a regular marshal at the 113 Triathlon events, often getting up at 4am to start his shift at 8am at Cotswold Water Park. He particularly liked the water station, where he could hand out drinks to the runners, hose them down on hot summer days and shout words of encouragement or even engage in some banter with other marshals.
He turned up for all events, from concerts to art exhibitions, football and cricket matches, presentations at Joseph’s former school, KES VI and paid visits to some of the charities we supported. He always willing to take a back seat and encourage others to take the limelight but never failed to pull his weight and contribute to the occasion. He organised his own event in 2021 and spent hours on the phone selling tickets and encouraging friends and work colleagues to take part in a clay shoot and auction shortly after lock-down during COVID. The event raised over £12,000.
Roy was very passionate about helping others and throughout his life he counselled people around him who needed support. He was a marvellous listener, compassionate and caring but not afraid to share some hard truths if he felt this necessary. He has an extremely active career, starting his working life at the age of 16 and retiring 60 years later. He built up a very successful international grass seed company in the late 1980’s and ran the company until 2000. Latterly he most enjoyed being at home together with his dogs, chatting, reading, discussing the football results and pottering round the garden.
