Helen Taylor Thompson OBE, née Laurie-Walker, 1924-2020

Helen Taylor Thompson signed the Official Secrets Act aged 19 and was part of what was known then as Prime Minister Winston Churchill's "secret army". She sent coded messages to spies in occupied France during World War II. "One mistake and someone's life could have been in danger," she says.

Helen was elected to the board of the Mildmay Mission Hospital in 1952 and afterwards sat on a number of Government NHS committees. She later fought the closure of the Mildmay Hospital and became its Chair when it reopened as the first hospice in Europe for people living with AIDS in 1988. In 1995 Helen, alongside Community Action Network co-founders Adele Blakebrough and Lord Andrew Mawson organised the Great Banquet - which saw 33,000 people in London sit down with people from every background to a meal. This event saw the beginnings of CAN, a network of social entrepreneurs who shared a commitment to tackle social problems through business. In 1990, Helen was awarded the MBE and in 2005 the OBE. In 2019 she was awarded MD (Hon) OBE from the University of Buckingham for her Charitable work, particularly in the field of medicine. Helen Taylor Thompson continued her charitable work until the present day. We at Mildmay are all deeply saddened by her passing and send her family our most heartfelt, deepest condolences.

Book of condolence

Please leave your message of condolence and any special memories you would like to share in the online book of condolence at Education Saves Lives, the charity which Helen founded.