Memorial ball for student

Jun 13 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

A FUND has been launched in memory of a Newcastle student and budding journalist killed in a car accident while volunteering in Sierra Leone.

Edward Sawyer, 23, had been working with the African charity Timap for Justice preparing legal guides and researching for a PhD when he died last May.

Edward, known as Ed, who grew up in Rutland, gained a first class honours degree in Geography from Newcastle University and has been described as a pillar of the student community in his time there, during which he became features editor and then news editor of the student newspaper, The Courier.

Now, to mark the first anniversary of his death, Ed’s family and friends have set up a fund in his memory to raise money for Timap and will hold a charity ball in his hometown of Oakham tomorrow.

His younger sister Olivia, 20, a second-year sociology student at the university, has been helping to organise the event. She said: “Edward was the most amazing brother, friend and son. He went to Sierra Leone because he wanted to help those not as fortunate as him try to achieve their dreams.

“He was one of those people who everybody wanted to be around. People were drawn to him for lots of reasons, one of which was his fantastic sense of humour.

“He was someone who loved a good party and this is why we planned the ball. It gives those whose lives he touched a chance to come and honour his memory.”

Olivia is hoping those that knew Ed will attend on Saturday, and she is also appealing for charitable donations.

She said: “All the proceeds will go to Timap, which provides free legal services to the poorest people in Sierra Leone, one of the world’s poorest countries.

“This empowers them to fight the hardships they have endured following years of civil conflict.”

Dr Nick Megoran, lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University, said: “Ed was one of the finest students to have graduated from our school in recent years.

“He was extremely bright, but also remarkably interested in learning in general, and would like nothing more than to sit with lecturers and debate ideas over a coffee. Geography is the study of places, and he was passionate about places that grabbed him, especially Newcastle and Sierra Leone, where he conducted research about the operating of a truth and reconciliation commission. He was concerned to understand how it can be made safer, and he had intended to pursue this interest through post-graduate study.

“He had a great sense of fun and my last memory of him was when, as a guest at my home for lunch after visiting a local church, he wonderfully entertained my baby daughter. His death was a tragic loss to the department, and potentially to social science in general.”

For more details on how to get involved in the fund, visit http://edsawyerfundraiser.googlepages.com/edsawyerfundraiser or email edsawyerfundraiser@hotmail.co.uk

Ed was one of the finest students to have graduated from our school in recent years