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This
article is published in Namaste Magazine Vol. 7 Issue 3 PO Box 127, Shrewsbury
SY3 7WS Email: info@namastepublishing.co.uk Tele: + 44 (0)1743 341303
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By Liz Vaughan,
National Pure Water Association
Chairman
I first met Jane
when she joined us as Campaign director at the National Pure Water Association
(NPWA) in 1994. We worked together to bring the NPWA into national prominence
and a force to be reckoned with in fighting the fluoridation of our
drinking water. Jane lived in a little cottage in West Bretton in Yorkshire
and we spent weeks together re-organising the NPWA and planning future
campaigns. During this time Jane christened the fluoride promoters'
"fluorodistas" and the name stuck! We both come from South
Wales, Jane from Llanelly and I from Cardiff and we became very close
friends with much in common.
In 1996 the Health
Authorities decided to fluoridate Northern Ireland. Through NorthWest
Councils Against Fluoridation a seminar was arranged in Carrickfergus
Town Hall for councillors and officers. At the crack of dawn, Jane and
I with two Northwest councillors, sailed into Belfast Harbour meeting
up with Dr Peter Mansfield who was at the time President of NPWA.The
seminar was a huge success with full media coverage. Jane later returned
to Ireland and in a hired van draped with posters, toured Northern Ireland.
This resulted in 25 out of the 26 councils becoming opposed to fluoridation
and thus formed Northern Ireland Councils Against Fluoridation. This
was the beginning of various publicity events, such as setting off balloons
at a British Dental Association (BDA) Conference in Harrogate.
Then of course there have been marches. We have marched in Newcastle
with a May Day parade, joined other campaigners in London, always carrying
placards, handing out leaflets and making more friends in the campaign
for our human rights.
During this time Jane was acquiring not only a national prominence but
also a worldwide reputation, at one time working with Professor Susheela
of India at a Water Conference in Brazil as a guest of The United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF). Professor Susheela, a leading scientist, (a
world expert on fluoride chemistry and senior advisor to the Indian
Government), came with us to present the case against fluoridation to
Health Minister Tessa Jowell. It was a brilliant presentation, so good
we thought this was the end of the mass medicating of our drinking water.
However, like all the marches that have taken place in London, 'no notice'
was taken even after presenting Tessa Jowell with petitions with over
30,000 signatures! Jane was always willing to drive anywhere to talk
to groups and councils. I have always been so glad she was on our side,
I would have hated to have been up against her as an enemy. The British
Fluoridation Society have found this to their cost as she was very factual
and effective.
Since 1995, Jane made many contacts world wide and friendship blossomed
with a fluoridation fighter in Florida called George Glasser. One day
Jane announced he was coming to England for a holiday and this coincided
with a seminar we were organising, and to his surprise George found
himself as a speaker. Romance was on the cards and George returned to
the USA to settle his affairs and then came to live in Britain in March
200. He and Jane married in May 2001 and were very happy.
Jane's
courage was witnessed by many
Jane was very proud
of the accuracy of the research she and George did into fluoridation,
and the NPWA has never been accused of giving out false information,
as every statement we made could be referenced.
One cannot replace Jane either as a strategic campaigner or as a friend.
We are very sad that she is no longer with us. Thankfully, we have the
support from our members and the determination to continue "Jane's
Battle" to prevent all citizens of the UK from being "poisoned"
and to finish this fluoridation fiasco.
An example of Jane's courage was witnessed by many in how she dealt
with the cancer which grew progressively worse in the six months leading
up to her death on September 3rd. Jane did not want anyone to know that
she was ill except her family and close friend s and we were all sworn
to secrecy. Anyone who rang NPWA got Jane up until the last few weeks
of her life when she was too weak to answer the phone. Jane will always
live on in the minds of those who knew her and I like many others have
a life that is much richer for having known Jane, she was an inspiration
to every campaigner fighting for truth and justice.
"For dear
Jane - a wonderful supportive individual who was always there for me
- as a campaigner, as a confidante, with a shoulder to cry on. Always
ready with solid advice, ready for a laugh and ready for action with
a style that was indefatigable. I'll continue in the fight against mass
medication for your sake Jane, and for the sake of everything that free
choice really represents. See. ww.npwa.freeserve.co.uk
Blessings on you Jane, Love Felicity"
"'National
Pure Water Association'. I remember Jane's intonation of the words.
No matter the time of day, Jane was always ready to listen, offering
encouragement and wise guidance. As the Association's Campaigns Officer,
she was efficient, on top of her subject, eloquent, humorous, relishing
her job. She enjoyed the world-wide contacts she made, many of whom
became personal friends.
At a time of personal tragedy in my life, Jane's kindness sustained
me. She had me to stay at her house, cocooning me in friendship and
comfort. The next morning she confessed she hadn't been to bed. She'd
spent the night sending emails back and forth to America, to George,
the environmentalist campaigner who not long afterwards became her husband.
NPWA was a huge part of Jane's life but did not supplant her deep love
for her own family and for the Aunt who, most Sundays, she took out
for lunch.
Jane had another side, great bravery in adversity, a fiery anger against
all forms of injustice and sheer scorn for the dangerous totalitarian
creed of the fluoridistas (her term). Our best tribute will be to fight
against the fluoridation menace as tenaciously as Jane did and to achieve
the victory she so desired." Elizabeth McDonagh
"When I
became Conscious, during March of 1998, without properly understanding
what had happened to me, I scoured my address book for someone to talk
to about it, who might know. The only name I came up with was JaneJones.
Exactly when she perceived the true nature of reality I don't know,
but she demonstrated the results in her work, and in all her dealings
with others. She had the certainty and clarity of mind which comes from
clearing petty ego out of the way; the respect and sympathy for other
people, as individuals making their own painful journeys in consciousness,
which is rooted in the journey you have yourself made; and the wisdom
to know when to speak and when to remain silent.
She took her new-found strength back into the world, campaigning against
deception and injustice, rather than pushing at the crack in the door
of the mind, though she used numerology, experimented with telepathy,
and remembered at least one of her past lives. Jane was a rare and remarkable
person, and her premature death is a tragedy on many levels. We need
our wise." Ros Jones.
Membership Secretary, NPWA
"Jane Jones
was a brilliant campaigner, and worked closely with the Green Party
on the issue of water fluoridation. She spoke a number of times at our
conferences, and gave a great deal of advice to the party as we campaigned
against water fluoridation. Many Greens had direct dealings with Jane,
and we will miss her greatly. She was a determined and inspiring campaigner."
Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, Green Party National Executive
"We dedicate this issue to an amazing colleague, a staunch campaigner
Jane Jones, Campaign Director for National Pure Water Association who
sadly lost her battle with cancer in September. She was intelligent,
articulate, always factually accurate and had a great sense of humour.
Jane was a great lady who stood firm against injustice and the erosion
of our human rights; as such she campaigned to stop the mass medication
and poisoning of our water supplies by our own government.
Sadly, there will be no great procession or media coverage from the
capital for Jane. 'Few' who have had such honours bestowed upon them
could match the positive and essential work Jane strove so hard to achieve
for her fellow countrymen and indeed the world.
New Agers speak constantly of love, yet few are willing to put it into
action and some even decry those who do. Campaigning is 'love in action'.
Jane's work was the epitome of love, she fought on behalf of the people
for injustice and our human rights, she will be sadly missed"
The Namaste Team
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