Sir Robin Chichester-Clark, a great friend to Arvon

It is with great sadness that we report the death of a great friend of Arvon, Sir Robin Chichester-Clark. When he died on August 5th, aged 88, Robin was Life President of Arvon. He was Chair of Arvon from 1997—2000, a period of epoch-making change at Arvon as it was during this time that we acquired our Shropshire house, The Hurst, the former home of John Osborne. With support from Arts Council England, chaired by poet Lord Gowrie, Robin, and Arvon’s National Director, David Pease, secured its purchase for future generations of writers.

Sir Robin and Lady Caroline have been steadfast supporters of Arvon ever since and in March this year, they helped us launch the Crenham Award, supporting groups of adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to come to Arvon and change their lives for the better through self-expression.

Robin was a persuasive friend of Arvon, who was always trying to make opportunities for us to extend our work, and influence. He was also charming, and great fun!

We will miss him very much indeed, and send our loving thoughts to his family at his very sad time.

Ruth Borthwick

Robin’s obituary in The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/08/15/sir-robin-chichester-clark-mp-for-londonderry–obituary