My partner, Giles Darvill, who has died aged 81, made a career in social work but showed his creative side in stained glass work, poetry and gardening.
After gaining a qualification at the University of Cardiff, Giles became a social worker for the London borough of Kingston upon Thames in 1971. In 1975 he moved to the National Volunteer Centre, which had been set up two years previously to bring more structure to the use of voluntary work. He was there until the mid-1980s, when he set up on his own as a consultant, advising social services organisations on how to make the best use of their volunteers. This led him later into work of a similar nature with the National Institute for Social Work, with whom he remained until retirement in 2004.
He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, to George, an RAF pilot in the two world wars, and his wife, Ruth (nee Collins), but grew up near Ringwood, Hampshire, and it was there that he developed his love of the New Forest and of nature in general.
The youngest by several years of a family of five, Giles was sent to board at St Peter’s prep school in Christchurch, Dorset, at the age of seven, after the death of his father. He then won a scholarship to King’s college, Taunton, where he took part in theatrical productions, sports and services in the school chapel. However, there was an underlying regret at losing his father at such an early age.
Giles married Gill Taylor, a speech therapist, in 1974, and they had two children, Hannah and Ben. Living at first in London, they moved to Buckinghamshire and then to Southwell, Nottinghamshire, where he began his hobby of stained glass making. Their marriage ended in separation in 1995, and Giles and I got together in 1996 after we had both divorced.
In retirement, Giles returned to Hampshire, this time to Milford on Sea, and developed his interest in nature and wildlife. He turned an ordinary urban garden into a wildlife haven, with new paths, ponds and unusual shrubs and trees. He also took part in a local environmental group and undertook surveys of bumblebees and birds.
Active in the local sailing club, he undertook a bat survey of its old clubhouse when it was scheduled to be replaced. He continued to make stained glass for family and friends, wrote poetry and followed Daoist philosophy.
He is survived by me, Hannah and Ben, and his grandson, Luc.
