John

John Willis has spent 14 years on Pecan's board

‘We must be open minded, working hard to see where there might be gaps that we, the church, can fill.’

If Pecan was an individual it might be a lot like John Willis. A straight talking south Londoner, with a deep passion about people’s right to work and a deep love for God, John came to faith in his 40s.

Moving from an engineering firm to manage the Peckham Trader’s Association, John was Chair of Pecan’s founding group.

‘It was a wonderful opportunity for the church to do something about a specific issue, in this case unemployment,’ he says.

And, as the team knocked on doors on the North Peckham estates, it was the church which made all the difference. ‘Because we were the church, we didn’t tell people to come to an office. We said, “We’re part of the church. See that church hall over there? Go there.” That was the difference; the church was part of the community.’

John has been involved with Pecan ever since, clocking up seven years as a member of staff and another 14 years on the board. He’s now in his 70s, but his commitment and passion show no sign of dimming.

Being on the board of Pecan in the early days was an eventful ride, with the charity nearly closing several times. ‘We’ve always had to rely totally on the Lord,’ explains John. ‘We started off in faith and we’ve remained in faith.’

Looking ahead, John is clear. ‘We must be open-minded about where we are going, seeing what the Lord wants us to do and working hard to see where there might be gaps that we, the church, can fill.’