Simon Baynes

We learned yesterday of the death of Simon Baynes, a pension trustee who was known, respected and liked by everyone I know. For a sense of the breadth of service Simon gave to pensions, the church and his community, this – his election address for the General Synod in 2015, is a good point to start.

You can see some tributes on his CCTl colleague, Susan Anyan’s appreciation to him.

I was particularly  touched by Lynda Whitney’s quotation from the final chapter of Simon’s autobiography

It is incumbent on us neither through negligence nor folly to squander our inheritance but to pass it on to our successors enriched by our own generosity and service.

I wasn’t aware that Simon had suffered with diabetes for 55 years , nor that he had won the Joslin medal for fortitude and I am now looking forward to reading this book which can be purchased here.

I got to know Simon through work, I had a wonderful meeting with him at his club, the Athenaeum, which he seemed very much at home in. We spoke about his work for Logica (then one of Britain’s largest DC trusts and of his plans to become a professional trustee and we spoke of his work for the General Synod of the Church of England.

Each December after that meeting I received a Christmas card from Simon, though I had done nothing to deserve it.  He worked with our consultancy and with many others, all who worked with him would praise him and when he joined Capital Cranfield, he became one of their most popular members. Neil McPherson’s moving tribute to Simon is on the CCTl website and can be accessed here.

He was taken too soon, his stoical acceptance of the illness that killed him and his lifelong affliction with diabetes are marks of his selflessness and encouragement to all those for whom the prospect of such things is too awful to consider.

I hope that his memory will survive him in his book , through his work and most of all through his kind and Christian spirit which is an example to us.

If you would like to mark your respect with a donation, Neil McPherson has posted this link and comment to the linked in thread from which I have already quoted.

It is very moving to see such heartfelt comments from all Simon’s friends. I’ve detailed below information on the charity chosen by Simon’s wife Clare if anyone wishes to make a donation in his memory.

“Rennie Grove Hospice have been absolutely wonderful over the last few months in helping us look after Simon and keep him at home.  There is huge strain on their finances due to Covid-19 as fundraising events have been affected and their services have been being used more than ever because everyone is wanting to stay at home, not risk being in hospital or even an inpatient in our local hospice, due to the virus. ”  

https://www.renniegrove.org/donate/donate-online