PETERBOROUGH, UK (ANS) -- The Leprosy Mission, England and Wales (TLMEW), based in Peterborough, UK, has announced the sudden death of its National Director, Rupert Haydock.

Rupert Haydock

Mr. Haydock, 52, was taken ill on the morning of Wednesday September 1, 2010, while at a Leprosy Mission supporters meeting at St Andrews Church, Langley Mill, Nottingham.

According to a news release, TLMEW team members who were with him at the time say that Mr. Haydock collapsed in the church and did not regain consciousness. He was then taken by paramedics to Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham.

The release went on to say, “Mr. Haydock was greatly respected in the voluntary sector having been National Director of The Leprosy Mission England and Wales from November 2007. He had an extensive career in the non-governmental organisations, government and private sectors and worked in a wide range of areas such as agriculture; health and social services; governance; economic development; community, rural and institutional capacity development in a number of countries.

“He also spent seven years living overseas with his family whilst working as an economist for the Overseas Development Administration (now the department for international development - DFID) in the Falkland Islands and in community and organizational development with Tearfund UK in Burkina Faso.”

He leaves behind a wife, two daughters, a son and a son-in-law.

Says Keith Nicholson, acting National Director, TLMEW, “The staff and trustees of TLMEW are naturally shocked at this untimely death. Mr. Haydock was greatly respected, indeed loved, by his colleagues, family and all those who had the privilege of working with him. He was a wonderful and inspirational man.

“We are comforted at this time by our shared faith as we are a Christian organization and our prayers are with his family at this sad time.

“He will also be greatly missed and mourned by The Leprosy Mission globally and all who ever met him.”

For further details please contact:
Keith Nicholson, Acting National Director
Tel: 01733 370505
Email: keithn@tlmew.org.uk

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available here