JILL Hudson who died in January was a great champion of the Tenbury No Interest Loan Scheme and probably did more than anyone to put it on the national map.

She was a supporter of Jane Newton and the Tenbury No Interest Loan Scheme almost from the beginning.

As a Christian Socialist, CND supporter and teacher of children with behavioural difficulties, Jill naturally gravitated towards helping others.

Through her work as a volunteer at Tenbury Citizens Advice Bureau, she saw that sometimes, things could go wrong for ordinary people and that they didn’t always have the financial resources or family support necessary to resolve the problem.

While CAB offers expert guidance and support, their remit is limited to providing advice.

Tenbury NILS however, was set up to give practical support to people in need.

"Jill embraced this concept of enabling people who otherwise could not afford to replace their broken washing machine, buy their children’s school uniform or a computer for school use, were able to do so by means of a loan that could be repaid according to their individual circumstances,” said her widower Eric.

She volunteered in the NILS office and she took on the duty of raising awareness of the scheme in order to attract further support.

Jill Hudson contacted Simon Read, the personal finance editor of the Independent newspaper who was sufficiently impressed by the merits of the scheme, that he published an article in the newspaper.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, drew attention to ‘payday’ and short-term loans that were widely advertised which encouraged people to accumulate huge debts that could not be sustained.

Jill wrote to him on behalf of Tenbury NILS, demonstrating that there was an alternative, operating here in Tenbury.

She was so impressed by the effectiveness of the NILS scheme, set up by Jane Newton, that she proposed Jane for a British Citizenship Award.

Jane was presented with her award at the Palace of Westminster, in July 2015. Unfortunately, Jill was too ill to accompany Jane so her place was taken by the Rev Claire Lording.

Her illness meant that she had to relinquish her CAB and NILS duties and she died in January of this year.

“As a Tenbury resident, Jill felt proud that such a worthwhile organisation had started and could spread out from our small Worcestershire town,” added Eric Hudson.

It was her wish that the retiring collection at her funeral and donations be given to support the work of Tenbury NILS.

A cheque for £1,065.00 was presented by Eric Hudson, in memory of his wife.