Tessa Harding MBE

Tessa Harding MBE (1993-94) grew up in Suffolk, not far from Halesworth, and was delighted to come back home nearly 24 years ago.  She was educated at the Lycée Français de Londres (1952-61), a graduate of Keele University (BA Hons 1966) and of Brunel University (MA 1977). As a Harkness Fellow she studied the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the long-term care system in the USA. Tessa worked for three local authorities in various roles, mainly as liaison officer between the Council and the voluntary sector.  She joined the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, leading the Community Care Project for six years and later for the National Institute for Social Work on disability issues alongside organisations of disabled people who were developing an ever-stronger voice at that time.  Tessa worked for Help the Aged nationally for ten years, finally as Head of Policy, having focused earlier on age equality and human rights.  She was a member of the Advisory Committee for New Dynamics of Ageing and of the Attorney General’s Equality and Diversity Advisory Group; she advised the Crown Prosecution Service on policy on crimes against older people. Awards included an MBE in January 2004 (for services to charity, although she protested privately that it should have been 'for services to older people'), the Alan Walker prize for her contribution to social gerontology in 2009 and the annual Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Society of Gerontology in 2009. Tessa died in December 2024.