Kevin Thompson, our branch Social/Press Secretary, colleague, and friend, died on 25 August aged 64.
In his earlier life Kevin worked in retail management, including in the music sector, and organised events and press releases – skills he brought to bear on behalf of our branch in more recent years.
Kevin joined CAMRA in 2010 and after attending an AGM decided to get more involved in the branch, volunteering to take on more than one role. As press secretary he has been quoted several times in the Star, usually on Pub of the Month related news. This helped raise our profile and that of the pubs we cover – the committee are very grateful for his work.
He was also very active as our social secretary, spending many days scouting pubs on trips both in and out of town to practice routes for social meets he planned. These provided excellent opportunities for branch members to socialise outside of meetings and to explore some of the less well travelled parts of our branch and beyond. Kevin was always happy to lend his hand to chairing meetings, writing trip reports for Beer Matters, and standing in for award presentations.
At Steel City 49 a rare cask of Neepsend Brew Co’s Alcis was dedicated to Kevin, and his friends also arranged various fitting tributes across Sheffield focusing on his other joint loves of Sheffield Wednesday, and live music.
A tribute to Kevin was held on 6 November at Wadsley Bridge Working Men’s Club where many of Kevin’s friends met to celebrate his life, share stories and look at photos.
He will be missed.
