Richard Groom

Richard Groom was the most useful sort of Taverner – someone who used his business skill and experience to make the charity more effective and thus benefit more young people – young people he cared about deeply. 

In 1998 I founded the Orpheus Centre, a college for young disabled people, and for its first few years I chaired its board. I was seriously bad at this, and the college began to go backwards fast. Richard had been a rower at school, so understood the business of going backwards fast, but this wasn’t why I invited him on to the Orpheus board. I had observed him chairing meetings during his stint at the helm from 2004-2006, when I was a Taverners trustee. He was brilliant at this.

In 2008 he became Orpheus’ chair. Things immediately began to pick up, and by the time he handed over the chairmanship in 2015 we were thriving and confident. Orpheus had five students in 1998. Today it has 64, all working towards independent living. None of them will ever know how much they owe to Richard’s efforts on their behalf. But I do, and I will always be grateful to him. 

He was a good man, a great giver and a great friend.

Sir Richard Stilgoe