Jonathon Swallow

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Andrew Zigmond
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Location: Harrogate

Jonathon Swallow

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Wed Jun 01, 2016 7:40 pm

I have learnt today of the death of Jonathon Swallow. Jonathon was a stalwart of Ilkley chess club for many years and played for Harrogate in the Yorkshire league, as well as representing Yorkshire at county level. He was also a regular at many Yorkshire Congresses and indeed somebody was only asking after him last weekend.

I had the pleasure of welcoming Jonathon to Harrogate back in 2003 and came to know him reasonably well in the years that followed. He was a terrific character with a sense of humour that was always in evidence. Outside of chess I believe he was a great lover of classical music and his knowledge was extensive. I will remember him with great affection and he will be missed by his many friends within Yorkshire.
Controller - Yorkshire League
Chairman - Harrogate Chess Club
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MartinCarpenter
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Re: Jonathon Swallow

Post by MartinCarpenter » Wed Jun 01, 2016 8:01 pm

That is sad. Seemed a really nice person when I met/played him.

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: Jonathon Swallow

Post by Gerard Killoran » Thu Jun 09, 2016 3:41 pm

Jonathan was a fellow member of Ilkley Chess Club, but was also a friend and comrade. I hope to write an obituary for our club site, but until then here's two that have been published already. Missing from both - and something Jonathan would have wanted mentioned - was that he was an out and proud Gay man and had only just before his illness helped found a local LGBT group.

Here's UNISON NI's report.

Jonathan William Harvey Swallow, previously of Ilkley, Yorkshire, son of Major Albert Graham and Sybil Mary Swallow and Champion of workers’ rights, died Mater Hospital Belfast on 31st May 2016 aged 63 after a short illness.
The Regional Committee, members and staff of UNISON Northern Ireland notify, with great sadness, the death of our friend, comrade and member Jonathan. Our members have lost a champion and someone whose personal contribution to our union, the wider trade union movement and the peace process over the last 30 years can never be underestimated. Public services owe Jonathan an enormous debt. He saved the jobs and services of thousands of public service workers in Northern Ireland and across the UK. Jonathan is held in the highest respect, not only by workers and trade unionists, but by those honourable senior public servants and politicians who also valued his far-sighted advice. We will miss him dearly.

...and the Wharfedale Observer

JONATHAN Swallow – formerly of St John’s Road in Ben Rhydding – who was a change management consultant and equality campaigner, has died in Belfast aged 63 after a short illness.

Jonathan William Harvey Swallow was born in 1952, the son of two French teachers. By that time his father, Albert, was senior master of Ilkley Grammar School, having served in the Italian campaign and ended the war a major. He died when Jonathan was eight.

Jonathan, with precocious intelligence, was able in his early teens to mark the evening’s French homework for his mother. An outstanding all-round student, he became head boy despite a total lack of sporting prowess.

Jonathan applied to Hertford College, Oxford, pre-A levels and was awarded one of only eight scholarships in 1971.

He read politics, philosophy and economics, missing out on a first by the smallest possible margin, and went on to take a master’s degree in politics at Strathclyde University. Jonathan played chess for Oxford University and latterly for Yorkshire and Ilkley. He was a serious classical music lover and developed a taste for good beer, as well as good conversation.

Jonathan’s approach to life pointed to a career in public service. He began as a graduate trainee at Ealing Borough Council, working for a number of councils before working directly for the chief executive at Birmingham City Council.

As the 90s approached, he established, and led, the aptly-named Competition Advice. where he was the principle management consultant. He travelled the length and breadth of the country advising public sector and other clients about how to respond to the outsourcing of public services.

Jonathan’s focus was always on supporting and helping the weakest and most vulnerable – often woman and the disabled. Catering assistants, cleaners and road sweepers were amongst the many who owed their jobs and retention of their terms and conditions to him. Through his efforts, he helped establish the principle that the Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) protection applied to public sector workers and ensured tender evaluation processes were applied fairly in the competition process.

Jonathan worked alongside NUPE and UNISON in Northern Ireland for more than 30 years. Through his efforts, local government and education services were kept privatisation-free. In the health and social services system, where the campaign against privatisation lasted for 15 years, all services were returned in-house, resulting in Jonathan’s ‘hero’ status amongst low-paid women workers and the dispossessed.

He was deeply engaged in work with UNISON NI to support the peace process until being diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Always the champion of the underdog, the value of his input has been immeasurable and his contribution will be long remembered.

MartinCarpenter
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Re: Jonathon Swallow

Post by MartinCarpenter » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:36 pm

Now those really are worthwhile and commendable achievements! A very well lived life.

Mike Truran
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Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:44 pm

Re: Jonathon Swallow

Post by Mike Truran » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:45 pm

I must have missed Jonathan by just three years or so at Oxford; sounds like it would have been a pleasure to meet him. Respect.