A tribute to Cal Carruthers-Watt

Along with many people in the town the Community Network was saddened to hear of the death of Cal Carruthers-Watt.  Cal became involved in the Community Network in 2002 and was elected as the Representative for older people on the Hartlepool Partnership, a role he has fulfilled until the present time.  He regularly attended meetings of the Steering Group and business meetings, often taking on the role of Chair when asked to.  People will remember him for his calm, thoughtful and well considered contributions at meetings.  Cal maintained his interest in Lifelong Learning and was a strong advocate for the interests of older people.    Cal’s main interest was representing the views of older people on many bodies including the Hartlepool 50+ Forum; Older People’s Advisory Group; Patient and Public Forum Involvement Forum; Older People Implementation Team; Safety Partnership; to name just a few.  Cal had an active role in inter-agency meetings to formulate the framework for Hartlepool Older Peoples Strategy which resulted in the Public Consultation of the Draft Strategy in November 2003 and subsequent launch of the Strategy in 2005.   Cal’s proudest achievement was probably the overall success of this Strategy especially being invited to other areas who had recognised Hartlepool Strategy as an example of good practice.  As I’m sure you will all agree Cal will be a hard act to follow and will be sadly missed.