Julia Fitzpatrick

We were sorry to hear that Julia Fitzpatrick a long-term friend and supporter of the Thistle Foundation and previous Chair of the Thistle Board of Trustees passed away recently.

Julia was a passionate advocate of equality and supporting people with disabilities to live life their way. She joined our Board of Trustees in 2007, going on to become Deputy Chair and then Chair until November 2012.

She became involved with our organisation when she was commissioned by Diana Paton (Thistle’s former CEO) to write up the stories of people living in Renfrew, who were supported by Thistle Foundation to leave institutional care. The resulting publication ‘I don't want to miss a thing’ - is a collection of stories of the lives of the people in Renfrew. It was first published in 2006 and is still in print and available from In Control Scotland. It is a wonderful piece of writing that brings to life the people at the heart of the stories but also the organisation that was supporting them.

Diana said, “Julia had a real gift for being able to articulate all things, Thistle - she really "got" Thistle. She brought all her concern for the people at the heart of the organisation to her role along with a great ability to support the organisation's values and principles through her pragmatic and practical focus on bringing these to life.”

Julia started her career at SSHA and Lister Housing Co-operative, going on to work at Blackwood and Horizon Housing Association as Chief Executive. More recently, she took on consultancy and interim CEO roles.

Julia was greatly admired and respected by her colleagues at Thistle, and people we support. She will be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.