Volunteers are usually seen as ancillary, filling gaps on a part-time basis. Jane Ferguson certainly filled a gap; she identified it herself, worked out the means of filling it and then filled it herself too. CAFS was Jane’s idea and she was the mainspring for well over a decade. All this is due, as far as I can see, to the fact that she took an MA here in 1975.

Jane is one of the most energetic people I know, and it was a great advantage to have her energy used in the service of the Courtauld. If one wants an embodiment of that energy, one need only think of the book sales: an annual event which people keep in their calendars, and which had been transplanted across the Atlantic from New York by the American Friends of the Courtauld. They require both organisational and physical commitment, with the carrying and storing of books, collected on trips often far from London, one occasion netting no fewer than three first editions.

More than that, Jane introduced new friends (and Friends) to the Courtauld, networking and welcoming, and helped with both the Friends and the Development Office and with making a success of the scholarships fund, the careers seminars, and a nostalgic visit to Home House.
And finally there is this newsletter, the face of CAFS and how the world finds out about the Courtauld. I am delighted to say that Jane has agreed, even in her retirement from volunteering, to continue editing the newsletter. We are greatly in her debt.

PROF. ERIC FERNIE