Celebrating Sheelagh Brewer

Published: 25 February 2009

The Royal College of Nursing is hosting an event to celebrate the life of Sheelagh Brewer, retired RCN Senior Employment Relations Adviser, who died earlier this month. The event, being organised by David Brewer, (Sheelagh’s husband) will include a number of presentations and the opportunity to share your memories of Sheelagh and to add them to a memorial book.

The event will be open to RCN members and staff and will be held in Cowdray Hall in RCN headquarters on 30 March between 4 and 6pm There is a limit on space, but it is hoped that everyone who would like to attend can be accommodated. If you are interested in attending, please email: celebratingsheelagh@rcn.org.uk by Monday 23 March.

Remembering Sheelagh, Chair of the RCN’s UK Safety Representatives Committee, Paul Hopson said:

“On behalf of the Committee and all safety representatives within all RCN regions in the UK, we are sorry to hear of the death of Sheelagh Brewer. Our thoughts are with her husband David, her family, her working colleagues and friends within the RCN family, and beyond the organisation, all who had the privilege to know her.

I would like to acknowledge her expertise and experience on health and safety issues within her role as Senior Employment Advisor. She always helped and advised the committee and gave valuable support for our RCN roles working for the organisation at local, national, European and international level.

She also worked closely with all activists and RCN members within the organisation. She always made herself available if needed for advice and help if required. She was the RCN champion in promoting health and safety within our working environment and helped to develop the role of RCN safety representatives to the benefit of all RCN members within the United Kingdom”.

If you are unable to make the celebration, but would still like to share a memory of Sheelagh, please send the RCN your thoughts and they will be included in the memorial book. Email: celebratingsheelagh@rcn.org.uk.

Obituary for Sheelagh Brewer: 24 February 1948 – 04 February 2009

Sheelagh Brewer, who died on 4 February 2009, was a respected colleague and a trusted friend. Sadly, her long looked forward to retirement in France has been cut short by cancer.

Sheelagh will be remembered as an inspirational teacher and for her singular contribution to making the working environment for nurses safer.

It was her style to encourage quietly, patiently drawing the best out of people. She developed many of today’s RCN stewards, safety representatives and officers.

Sheelagh's work on latex allergy (one of the RCN's biggest campaigns ever) is well known nationally and internationally. She developed the RCN's violence risk assessment toolkit and it was Sheelagh who led a successful campaign for safety devices for lone workers just before she retired. She also took the fight to improve workplace safety to Europe as the RCN's lead negotiator with EPSU (European Public Services Union).

Sheelagh did not like fuss or sentiments she wasn't even in the Hall to hear the standing ovation she was given at Congress 2007 being too busy sorting out someone's problem for them.

Pauline Ford, from Nursing Department, who was with Sheelagh for one of her last conversations said:

"She asked me to say goodbye to everyone at the RCN for her. As you can imagine there were many things Sheelagh wanted to communicate, as she seemed to know it was one of her last opportunities for a chat. It was so typical of her that she would want to say cheerio to us all".

Sheelagh will be missed by everyone she worked with, in the RCN and in the wider trade union movement.