My father, Colin Rochester, who has died aged 80 following chest and fungal infections, was a leading member of the scholarly community that explored and helped to define the key theoretical and practical features of what became recognised as the voluntary sector.
After a spell following university as a further education lecturer, Colin worked for the Workers’ Educational Association for 10 years, latterly as national development officer, before becoming in 1978 head of Cambridge House and Talbot, the Cambridge University settlement in south London working to tackle poverty and social injustice.
