A bit of an incubated blog post this time round, stemming from a desire just over a week ago to honour a lady whose community involvement and commitment led to something magnificent taking place in her local park; but in light of recent events, I feel moved to widen the scope a little bit and pay my respects to another wonderful and amazing lady who left a legacy of enormous significance.

For Suzannah Clarke, months of hard work and dedication culminated in the launch of the magnificent Tutu Peace Garden in Grove Park, Lewisham, on the 14th July. Suzannah, a renowned opera singer in her own right, discovered that her present house was once occupied by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As she discovered the role he played in the community 40 years ago, she realised that there was nothing to recognise the time he spent there; so she set about developing something that she felt would honour his work, his integrity and his dedication.

LCRN was fortunate enough to be caught in her sphere of activity, as we assisted the Royal Horticultural Society in capturing some of the material from the Chelsea Flower Show for reuse in community projects and schools around London. With very little time to get the garden ready, Suzannah, with help from designer Chris Beardshaw, was able to benefit from plants and flowers, timber and stone that would ensure a sustainable approach to garden design and development.

I attended the launch and found it difficult not to be overwhelmed by the significance of the occasion. The fundamental, emotional heart of the moment was provided by a choir of over 100 schoolchildren gathered from local schools, who all moved and sang as one in honour of Desmond Tutu, of peace and of equality.

The Archbishop, inherently appreciating the momentous occasion, paid tribute to the children; danced along to the drumming; and high-fived and saluted as many of the children as he could. He spent far more time speaking to everyone than he had been allocated, and was clearly enjoying himself.

What I came away with was the sense that Suzannah had achieved a truly amazing thing, gathering all these people in one place, generating a spirit of harmony and integrity; bringing together the local community and sharing positive action. This one event is sure to be remembered by everyone present for the rest of their lives; and the children who partook - they'll be inspired by the memory of having performed for and in honour of Desmond Tutu, of having been recognised by one of the great ambassadors for peace, friendship, integrity. But of course, she has also created this garden which will have permanence and will remind local residents of these themes, will hopefully prompt them to pause and reflect on them; and encourage them to aspire to great things.

On a more sombre note, this past week also saw the passing of another great lady of tremendous talent, dedication, honesty, drive and determination. Prue Poulton, known to LCRN as the coordinator for ecoActive, died suddenly of natural causes last Friday; she was buried at the City of London Cemetery in Manor Park yesterday.

It was a great honour for me to be able to join the congregation to pay tribute to Prue. It was clear to see just how many lives she had touched through her commitment to the community in Hackney; her dedication to environmental causes and the fundamental virtue and value of dynamic, exciting and innovative ways of teaching children to see and affect their world positively.

In truth, I barely knew Prue. I met her perhaps on three occasions, the first of which may have been within a week or two of my starting at LCRN; what I knew best of her was what I discovered through working alongside her colleagues at ecoActive, Katherine Hayward, Jessica Dolan and Fiona MacAllister: three more magnificent women - talented, committed, genuine women who inspire nothing less than absolute admiration on my part. I hope that they won't mind me saying that through my limited knowledge of Prue's incredible life they are part of this legacy that Prue has given us; of this aura that she undoubtedly had about her; of this incredible manifestation of heart and drive and belief that she clearly brought to everything she did.

Every so often in life you can be fortunate enough to meet someone special, someone whose soul and spirit, dedication and commitment can transcend the apparent mundaneness of this city that we live and work in. It's important not to take these people for granted; it's important to recognise that here are individuals of a spirit to aspire to. I realise that this is perhaps just a small way of paying tribute, and I hope that with my actions I will be able to come somewhere near to what they have achieved. Suzannah, I doff my cap to you.

Prue, you will be missed.