Honour for TCF Founder

The Founder of TCF, The Rev. Simon Stephens, has been awarded an OBE.  In 1988 Simon was listed in the New Year’s Honours, having been nominated for an award by the Royal Navy for dedicated service as a Chaplain.

It was whilst he was Chaplain at the Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital in 1969, that he brought together two newly bereaved couples.  He witnessed the therapeutic value of the resulting friendship, based on the mutual understanding of their heartbreak and sorrow, and The Compassionate Friends was formed.

From 1976 to 1980 he held te post of Vicar at St. Stephen’s Canley, and went on to become a Royal Navy Chaplain. His 17 year service with the Navy ended with his retirement last year.  Simon is now in charge of the Church of England chaplaincy in Menorca.

Nearly thirty years later The Compassionate Friends has spread throughout the world and is now represented in more than twenty countries. 

Lifted from TCF News, Bristol – Summer 1998