Gloria Taylor

I was beyond sad to hear about the death of Gloria Taylor. Gloria was the mother of 10 year old Damilola Taylor who was senselessly stabbed and left to die in a Peckham housing estate stairwell seven years ago.

Since her son's death, Gloria and her husband Richard had become tireless campaigners. They ran the Damilola Taylor Trust, whose work included providing medical scholarships children(Damiola dreamt of becoming a doctor) and opened the Damilola Taylor Centre, a sport and community hub in Peckham.

Watching Gloria on TV as she talked about her son and all he hoped to become, I was struck by her dignity.“We don’t want revenge, we want justice for our son,” she said, “Only after that can we forgive those who did this to Damilola.”

I doubt if I could have had the capacity to be so forgiving.

My thoughts are with the Taylor family in the UK and Nigeria. May Gloria rest in peace.