Francis Sealey from Enfield Climate Action Forum pays tribute to Roger Hallam, who died earlier this month

Roger Hallam with his lifetime achievement award from Enfield Council

Roger Hallam sadly died on 9th August just over a week after the death of his wife, Shirin. His funeral took place on Friday (23rd).

Roger, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, had lived in Hove for the last four years to be closer to his son and family as his health began to deteriorate. Before the move to Hove, and since the 1970s, Roger and Shirin had lived in Palmers Green where he was active in many community issues and, in February 2023, was one of 30 people honoured with a lifetime achievement award from Enfield Council.

I met Roger in the early 1970s when he had moved into a flat in Old Park Road. Roger, who was a sociology lecturer at Northern Poly, always took action after careful consideration of how this related to his own socialist beliefs. Despite our different approaches, we soon became good friends and engaged in several activities together.

The 1970s was a turbulent time with the National Front on the rampage, so Roger and I formed the Enfield Committee for Racial Harmony and held many meetings across the borough to bring our communities together. The Enfield Committee for Racial Harmony
became one of the foundation blocks in what became the present Enfield Racial Equality Council (EREC).

Roger took an active part in EREC right up to the time he left Palmers Green, and his work with EREC is what gave him his lifetime award. He had served there for many years as his passion had always been about racial harmony and the positive values of a multicultural society.

After the US terror attacks in September 2001, Roger joined me in setting up what is now the Enfield and Barnet United Nations Association (EBNUA). We were worried that there would be precipitous action leading to international conflict; we set up an online ‘MP Watch’ to try to influence our local MPs. EBUNA still exists today and is growing in strength.

Roger also got some local groups together to form a Civil Society Forum that campaigned on several issues, including a campaign against Veolia being awarded the £4bn North London Waste Authority contract. The campaign was successful with Veolia pulling their bid.

Roger was a founder member of the Enfield branch of Palestine Solidarity Campaign and helped to organise regular stalls and similar events. Earlier on, when our children began attending Hazelwood School, he was joint founder and a strong supporter of the Hazelwood Parents Association.

Roger has had a lifetime of campaigning for social justice and well deserved his award from Enfield some months ago when we gathered with others to celebrate that achievement at The Fox in Palmers Green. He has left an indelible print on our communities that will be remembered with fondness and thanks.

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