Volunteer and founder member of Glasgow's Children's Panel; Born May 14, 1914; Died July 8, 2007.
Winifrid (Winnie) Thomson, who has died aged 93, devoted almost two-thirds of her life to serving her fellow Glaswegians with great vigour.
Thomson's voluntary service began in the Girl Guides, where she was successively a guide leader, a district commissioner in Glasgow and then for 10 years a division commissioner for Glasgow south. She was still at the time of her death an ambassador for Girlguiding Glasgow, an active member of the Trefoil Guild and chair of Girlguiding Glasgow's house committee.
Throughout, her focus remained on the grass-roots - her raison d'etre - with unrelenting conviction and enthusiasm.
A passion for fairness underpinned a drive to help Glaswegians from every conceivable background to solve debt, benefits and housing problems. For two days every week, with total dedication from 1970 until her death, Thomson served her community in this way through the Glasgow Citizen's Advice Bureau, initially as a general adviser then as bureau tutor, a representative of clients at tribunals and as a member of the board. She was presented with a long service award in 2005. Her feisty determination to win clients a fair deal in employment tribunals became legendary.
Her advisory expertise was not limited to Glasgow. Fond memories were recounted of giving talks to newly-retired sailors at the Faslane Naval Base, and of the tight security that she passed through for each journey.
Perhaps those who benefited most from Thomson's expert opinion are the children who passed through Glasgow's Children's Panel, of which she was a founding member in 1971 when the new system of youth justice replaced juvenile courts. She maintained an enviable understanding of the needs of young people, and a frightening courage to stand up for those most vulnerable.
Other panel members noted her diplomacy and skill in negotiating difficult and stressful decisions. She remained on the advisory committee until 1984, when new age regulations led to her retirement.
She was also involved in the Marriage Guidance Council and was an active member of the Scottish Association for the Study of Delinquency.
A Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School former pupil, she took a continuing active interest in the school and on May 3 attended a former pupils' lunch at the House of Lords on one of her frequent trips to London. She was also a life-long churchgoer, latterly as a member of Giffnock United Reformed Church.
Despite so many commitments, she remained a non-driver and was fiercely independent, making her way to meetings by public transport in all weathers.
She never gave the impression that she was too busy to chat, yet her diary was filled weeks in advance with social and voluntary activities.
She remembered faces with ease, and had a razor-sharp mind for detail. And while she embraced useful new technology, she believed in meticulous personal organisation that did not depend on gadgets.
While Winnie Thomson lacked height, she was a woman of great stature. A youthful curiosity and genuine interest in others help to explain her utter modesty for the contribution that she made to her city.
She was pre-predeceased by her husband, Sam, and leaves a son, Tom, and daughter, Rhona, and their families.
David Hogg
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