It is with great sadness that VANL announces the passing of our former colleague, Jean Thomson, who died on 29th October 2025.

Jean started with Volunteer Centre North Lanarkshire in 2002 and was an active and hard-working member of the Volunteering Team. During that time, she worked tirelessly to match volunteers to suitable volunteering opportunities and often encouraged organisations to create opportunities where none previously existed.

During her time with us, she was involved in a successful mentoring project alongside Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire and was an active part of the North Lanarkshire Connections Project where her people matching skills came to the fore. She was also involved in a British Council programme for which she led a group of citizenship students on an international exchange to Poland and hosted the Polish students here in Scotland. She continued to be part of the Volunteering Team after the amalgamation with CVS North Lanarkshire and was a passionate advocate for volunteering and community action throughout her career.

Jean was a bubbly ‘people person’ and her down to earth and friendly manner made her so good at her job. She was a popular member of the team and loved the work that she did. Her infectious laughter and sense of humour made working with her so enjoyable and she really cared about those she worked with.

After more than 20 years, Jean officially retired from VANL in 2023 and she was missed by all her colleagues. Nobody could replace Jean’s work ethic, desire to make a difference or her determination to find the right volunteering opportunity for those she worked with.

We were very privileged to know and work with Jean for so long and we will miss her for a long time to come.