This is the text of the speech given outside Enfield Civic when a large group gathered to pay our last respects to Chris


On behalf of us all, I would like to thank everyone who has come today to celebrate and remember the life and achievements of our friend and comrade Chris Bond. This is a diverse group of people and that in itself says a lot about how Chris lived his life, he was open to everyone who shared his love of music and sport, his love of Enfield and those who wanted to make it a better place to live in.

In particular, I would like to thank the Leader of the Council Nesil Caliskan for allowing this unusual and unique event to happen and Councillor Gina Needs who has worked hard to organise it.

We all know just how much Chris will be missed by everyone here today -the residents he represented, the local council workers and unions, community groups, the councillors he worked with across the years, his many friends and of course Chris’s Family.

These are difficult times and we should take a moment to mark our friends, family and local people who have sadly died in the COVID19 pandemic. I spoke with Chris on many occasions over the last few months and he was proud of the Borough's response to the pandemic and he was frustrated that his illness kept him out of the numerous activities to help us all get through these hard times. His experience and commitment to our community was immense and he will be sorely missed.

Like many of you here, I have been friends with Chris for a very long time, it seems like most of our adult lives. I first met him in our Union Office, we both were telecom engineers, in 1982 and we have been close friends and comrades ever since.

He loved Enfield and was an enthusiastic ambassador for the Borough throughout his life. He was also first and foremost a Trade Unionist. We were both Officers in our Union Branch in the City and North London and he was central to its organisation. We were a big, stroppy union branch and an activists’ organisation, spearheading the fight for a shorter working week, defending jobs, conditions and pensions against privatisation, and no strangers to all forms of industrial action.


In the 1980’s, Chris supported the campaigns against local government cuts, including the in GLC and Lambeth, where he was born. He was a steadfast supporter of the Miners during their year long strike, and remained so until his death. He still had the memorabilia from that time in pride of place around his home.

It was his experiences as a Trade Unionist, the need to support individuals in hard times as well as the collective good, that informed his work for 34 years as an Enfield Councillor. During this time he had many successes both large and small and his fair share of disappointments too. In Enfield Lock, in the 1990’s, as the local councillor, he was central to the leadership of the campaign to address the toxic contamination of the land from the closed small arms factory, which was earmarked for housing. This was not a popular stance at that time within the Council. He picked the side of the residents, including the future residents, and the campaign resulted in a BBC Panorama special, a Friends of the Earth Booklet and changes to the UK regulations for the regeneration of brownfield sites.

Estate regeneration, highways and amenities, licencing, environmental issues and parks, and most recently his advocacy for Cycle Enfield and Meridian Water, all have benefited from from his vast accumulated knowledge and experience. He was an environmentalist who was proud of Enfield’s wonderful parks and his role in keeping them top class including the new wetlands in Town Park. When he was Cabinet Member for Environment he was involved in the renovation of the Forty Hall Estate and was an enthusiastic supporter of the new organic Veg Bag service and the award winning Forty Hall Vineyard. He especially liked our wine!!

Austerity and Enfield Council service reductions were very difficult for him, but he never shied away from the realities of his position. He was guided by a clear set of values and priorities, starting with the protection of the most vulnerable.

He won elections. It was a privilege to have campaigned for him in first the Lock, then Ponders End and latterly in Southbury. Not only did he win, but he consistently increased his share of the vote. He always said there was no secret in this, just consistent work on behalf of the people he represented. No case work issue was too small for him and everyone was treated with dignity and respect and their issues fully supported. On countless occasions we would be in the pub, or on the train or on a night out, and he would be approached by a local resident. The little notebook came out, the details were duly noted and a promise to follow up made. And he actually did follow
up every single approach. He was just as cheered by securing a
single housing repair as he was for the securing of a multi-unit housing renovation. Asked by his son Joe what his most memorable achievement was he said, without hesitation, Shopmobility. This is the scheme that transformed individual people’s life chances and that was top for Chris.

He had a passion for cricket, as a Scot this was beyond me. He gave up trying to explain the follow on rule to me despite multiple attempts. He was always loyal to his childhood football team, Spurs, and it was a source of great pride to him that his Son was involved in the management of the regeneration of their stadium. His only regret was that it was not in Enfield. He
doted on his grandchildren and was proud of his son’s professional career in local government.

He has a large circle of friends who he was always there for, in good times or bad. Nothing was ever to much of a bother for him, and he had a reputation for getting results and improving the life’s of those he represented.

He had a wicked sense of humour. On the Wednesday before his death I said to him as I was leaving Don’t go to the George without
me. At that point he couldn’t go anywhere. He smiled and said No, I fancy a pint now, I’ll see you there. He liked Frankie Boyle and shortly after his death I reached for the phone to text him to remind him to watch Frankie on BBC only to realise that he wasn’t there anymore.

On behalf of all of us I would like to thank the medical staff at the Royal Free who provided excellent treatment and care over the last three and a half years and the carers who helped him towards his end. I would also like to thank the North London Hospice and the staff there, who made his final hours very peaceful. It was a very Chris thing that he died in the company of his son while they listened
to Test Match Special on the BBC. I would also like to thank Angela from Austin, Davis and Son who, over the last few weeks, has gone well beyond the call of duty.

Chris had a big, bluff and bold personality but he was also a shy and sensitive soul. He was always there for his friends, both on social media and in person and we will all miss him.

Lots of us here today spent many a night at live gigs with Chris, especially in Union Chapel. He loved music and he would have welcomed any donations to keep this wonderful venue open. He himself made a substantial donation shortly before his death, so please follow on and make a donation, no matter how small, in his memory via his online memory page or in the box to my right.

Their will be a private family funeral later at the Crem and there will be other events in the near future when COVID regulations allow them to happen. Thanks for coming, and stay safe.

Pat Kane 07/08/2020