Jessica Smith died in her sleep on December 27th 2007 – aged 22 A tribute: It is an honour to stand before you today to share some memories and reflections of a talented, beautiful and wonderfully energetic young woman who we were all privileged to know. We want to use today celebrate Jess’s life because she was certainly something special. I first knew Jess as a fresh faced graduate – working in my first job at Jubilee Campaign. Ever since I’ve known her, two aspects of her personality stood out to me: her natural confidence and her determined courage. Her confidence shone through when Danny (my boss at the time) thought it would be good for her to get some experience working in the office. She used to come for several weeks in the summer – starting out as an assistant in the office and finishing virtually running the office! She didn’t let being the youngest or least experienced in the office hold her back. Jess threw herself into it – especially helping me in the campaign to free Ja...
I recently quit my job as a charity CEO for a time of reflection, running and adventure. This blog started years ago as the musings of a 20-something wanting to change the world but now is part reflections on mid life and part travel log as I take on running challenges and make pilgrimages, including solo travelling back from Beijing along the Silk Road.