He was just one of these genuinely good people who did things, not for accolades and not for thanks, that was the way he was
I think when somebody dies, it’s very easy to only focus on positive things and people are very complimentary, but actually there’s only nice things to say about John and I think that’s become really evident in the outpouring after he passed away. He was just one of these genuinely good people who did things, not for accolades and not for thanks, that was the way he was. He was a special needs teacher so he had the patience of a saint and he was always happy to help anybody. I don’t think he knew how special he was.
He loved being outside, loved being outside. He was very fortunate to grow up on a farm, so he had lots of freedom as a teenager and some of his stories are ridiculous, always lighting fires, fishing and getting up to nonsense in fields.
His dream was to set up his own forest school and that is what he was looking into doing, really close to before he passed, he was looking for a site himself. He just saw the benefits of getting children out of the classroom, you know, children being confined to four walls and sitting at a desk
is definitely not for everybody and getting them outside and working together in the fresh air just reaped massive benefits and it was definitely where John was at his happiest.
I’m so pleased he completed his Forest School Leadership and got to live out his dream a little bit, yeah, that’s where he was at his most happy.
Aimie Strachan was interviewed in 2025 as part of the Trees of Hope project.