Update: Just heard from Terri that Gillian’s funeral will be at 11am on Tuesday 26 November 2019 at Our Lady of Fatima, Commonwealth Avenue, White City W12 7QR followed by cremation at Mortlake Crematorium and a reception in the parish centre at White City.
We have learnt today of the death, last Sunday, of Gillian McLauchlan. Gillian, together with her twin sister Monica and mum Helena,put in a brief appearance on the very first pilgrimage in 1975. Gillian and Monica walked many of the early pilgrimages, and co-opted sister Theresa to join the support team in the late 70s and early 80s.
Gillian was one of the fast walkers of those early years, and she and I often walked stride-for-stride.
Eventually work got in the way of being a regular pilgrim, but Gillian always kept in touch and often turned up to call on the pilgrims when it was convenient. Looking back through my photos, in 2011 she was there at the start in Westminster and joined again (with Monica, driven by John Russell) at Birmingham.
Having lost her twin sister to breast cancer, Gillian was diagnosed a few years ago with bowel cancer. She was pretty upbeat – last July she texted me to say “Chemo not working so tablets stopped. Liver function worse. Got to get on and enjoy slow but active life for as long as possible”. And in late August she told me she was off to Lourdes. She’d always been a great supporter of Handicapped Childrens Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT) as in this picture from 1981.
May she rest in peace.