Tribute To Dr Gill Reed, Leading Expert On Asbestos In Schools

Front Row, fourth from the right. Gill after speaking at a conference held in Hamilton House.

With both CWU National Officer, Jamie McGovern and Derek Maylor retired member attending the Asbestos Taskforce; they workedwith Dr Gill Reed the UK’s leading expert on Asbestos in Schools.

Here they share with Unionsafety, a special tribute to her, by one of her colleagues, Hank Roberts:

Dr Gill Reed, one of the country's leading scientific experts on the dangers of asbestos in schools, died in October. She was the author of many research publications. Her most recent, What is the Real Risk from Asbestos in Schools?, is still up to date and can be downloaded by clicking on the image below left.

Gill was a Brent member of the NEU and, before that, of the NUT Brent Teachers Association, where she became Health and Safety Advisor. She was a woman of action as well as a scholar of asbestos.

A Willesden & Brent Times article and photograph show her, alongside other Brent officers, leading a walkout of staff at Hay Lane Special School.

The headteacher had been persuaded to allow ITN to film and air a programme showing the dangerous condition of asbestos in the school. After a vigorous campaign, the school was demolished and a brand-new, asbestos-free school was built.

In 2010 Gill and Hank Roberts founded the Joint Unions Asbestos Committee (JUAC), a cross-union campaigning body. Gill attended parliamentary committees and was often called as an expert witness, meeting people at the very top of government.

She never held back, making clear her view that all asbestos should be removed as rapidly as possible. Over the years she also worked to bring maximum unity to everyone campaigning against asbestos, believing that inter-union wrangles only hindered progress.

Charles Pickles, founder of Airtight on Asbestos, on hearing the news, wrote to me:

"It was only two weeks ago that I last saw Gill, so this was not expected. She was immersed in the technical details when we spoke and discussed her latest contribution to the Campaign. As such she was active and effective, interested and interesting till the end. Few possessed her technical knowledge, intellectual agility, commitment and persistence. She will be sorely missed."

Hank Roberts said:

"Gill was a wonderful, warm person, always with a smile and a laugh, yet with a strength of steel within her that made her the brilliant and effective campaigner she was."

You can join the campaign to increase the knoweldge of the true number of people suffering from Asbestos-Linked Lung Cancers, by signing this on-line petition to Parliament created by Charles Edmund Pickles:

'The HSE states that the ratio of mesothelioma deaths to other asbestos-related deaths is 1 to 1. Some research suggests that deaths from asbestos linked lung cancer are much greater than deaths from mesothelioma. We believe this may hide the scale of UK asbestos deaths and current asbestos risks.' By reviewing and reporting the true scale of the problem, it is hoped that asbestos management policy may be overhauled.

Closes on 22 November 2026

Source: air tight on asbestos / Derek Maylor / Jamie McGovern / Pic of Gill - courtesy of her family