| The steps Jane Bettridge Fellowship Fund was established in 2002 in memory of steps Trustee Jane Bettridge. The Fund supports research and education in orthopaedics and related disciplines.
Her partner Robin Boyd says,
Jane's involvement with steps as a trustee was very important to her; all the more so because of being a parent of a child with Talipes. She knew she could help and was "empowered" when aiding work that was so important to people's lives.
Causes like steps have their own momentum; the children themselves are witness to that. Jane's untimely death denied her the opportunity to add to the momentum to something in which she was so personally involved. That is very sad for everyone.
On a personal level for me, her partner and father of our child, I am grateful to steps for creating a fund bearing Jane's name, which can continue the work she had joined and reclaim a part of the momentum which was hers. It provides further meaning to Jane's involvement.
I explained to Sue Banton that I liked the word "Fellowship" in the title because it not only encapsulated a vision for the money's future to help fund a research post, but it also reflects the common interest that underpins steps and the fund. It also sits well with the person that was Jane. She was a catalyst, a motivator, and innovator, not least when working together within a group. She worked by generating and building on fellowships. There was no better ally when she worked together on a worthwhile cause. That was Jane's ethos.
The "Fellowship" has been established to promote research and education. How appropriate that a fund should help create new understanding in a way that encapsulates Jane.
Robin Boyd
20th June 2002 | 
