June DieganSend a message to

June Diegan

June Diegan

Students shared their memories of Dave with each other and with Sharon his wife in an event held by the WEA on the 10th June Elena – I knew Dave for 2 or 3 months. I wanted to do more with him. He was listening to me always. He was interested in his students. I felt he was a special person. He was genuinely interested. I wanted to do more of his courses. Ann – I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Dave very long but he made an extraordinary impression on us and we appreciated his openness. He was never negative. I would like to share that he was sharing his moments of joy – a young man who said he had an overwhelming sense of joy when he was on his way to see his soon to be wife – Sharon - and he had a deep sense of joy, one of the most joyous moments of his life. Madeleine - I was impressed in how he got us to think about different areas and ideas. He had gentle ways of getting us to think about things and to go down a path. I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet him. Kate – I really enjoyed the Psychology and Counselling courses – I enjoyed the discussions and his whole way of teaching. He was a really lovely man. Jane – I did four of his courses this year. He helped me think and helped me talk more. He had so much more to give. Such an interesting man and his curiosity for so many things. I will miss him very very much. Absolutely devastated that he’s gone. I feel I’ve lost a friend. Helen – I did a couple of Dave’s Philosophy courses and what struck me was how warm, friendly and welcoming he was from the first moment. The warmth came through to me. Leonie – I met Dave via Zoom and I started with his Emotional Health Mentoring course and after that I signed up to 3 more courses. I thought - this guy’s amazing. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be having a whole career change. This is because Dave believed in me. I’m a beauty therapist by trade. (Leonie is doing L2 and L3 helping in school courses and is talking to Enfield Town Partnership about employment opportunities). I have a job interview at my daughter’s school on Monday. Dave was an amazing person and he will be missed. Alfrina – I did Stress Management and Counselling with Dave. Because of his words of encouragement and desire for people to succeed in life, I enrolled on another of his courses which sadly won’t go ahead now. He said you have so much talent. To make him proud I will do something he wanted me to do. Jane – Dave liked mothing more than to tease our minds. He really got us all thinking widely and deeply about life’s important questions. So we would start with a teasing question – does common sense exist? – always listening and gently encouraging and sharing his thoughts. Sometimes he would share his thoughts and they were always interesting. It’s become a bit of thing in my house – that I would be saying Dave said this and Dave said that and he would say things like - show a little kindness in everyday life. It prompted me to put pen to paper. I did a write up on the topic of infinity. Dave expressed a wish that we continue to meet and discuss, as a tribute to Dave. Catherine – As part of the Kalahari group – he brought together a diverse group of people. It got a lot of us through lockdown. He was an amazing person. He did tease things out of you and give you confidence. I’ve read more – books I wouldn’t have read. On behalf of everyone in the group I hope we carry on. I want to thank him for getting us through a difficult year for everyone. Doug – My upmost condolences. He became, through the lockdown, a friend to us all. We were privileged to have his participation. He was extremely wise. It was a great opportunity to meet him and likeminded folk around the country. He was a great man. Sharon – As you know we have a daughter who has followed his footsteps into teaching. Like him, she wouldn’t let go of her students. She’s very like her dad. We both wanted to say that Dave had found a home in WEA. He was terribly eccentric and finding a place he could fit in as an employee was quite something. And particularly the support he got from Ashley and other managers – you allowed him to run with the things he wanted to do. We wish he had found WEA earlier on. The work kept him going. He was proud of his students. He would tell me when people achieved something - getting job interviews or progressing in their courses. He thought of you guys as his friends. Some mornings he was feeling rough, but after the class he was bouncing. He thought every class was the best, every group was the best. He lived for his work. It extended his life – I’m absolutely convinced of that. He never wanted to retire, he had such a happy life. He wanted to look back and know he had achieved things. We think he had an extra 4 years – working with you guys was a big part of him having those 4 years. Craig – he changed my world. Kindred spirit. I always wanted to do Philosophy and he gave me the chance. He gave me the confidence to believe in myself. I read the first 2 books of my life. I have 6 more books to read which I’ll do because he wanted to me. I know how much he loved his wife and child. I’ll never forget him and I wish I had more time with him. I hope the group carries on. Akhita – I met Dave twice. I did a taster session with him. Like everyone else I was really taken in with his calmness, his empathy and the way he got people to really share their information and to see things from different people’s perspective. It was a really interesting way of teaching and I learnt a lot. Ashley – I really miss Dave. He was one of the first tutors I met when I started working for WEA. Our relationship became much more than a work thing. I loved checking into Dave’s sessions to see everyone. It was the highlight of my week. And how amazing he was at bringing people together. He was the glue.

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