June Dodds was the chair of the Tenants and Residents Association

IF you happened to be down at the Peckwater Estate, you would most likely have seen June Dodds sitting on her bench, chatting to friends and neighbours as they went about their day. Children would be playing football on the pitch opposite, the very pitch one of NW5’s longest-standing community champions had fought so hard to protect for future generations.

Incredibly, she was chair of the estate’s tenants and residents association for more than 40 years.

Friends and family told the New Journal how she would often sit with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, was rarely without company, and was not afraid to stand up to the council on behalf of other tenants.

Born in 1943, Ms Dodds grew up in Somers Town and lived for a time in Bonny Street and Mitford Place. When her two children, Karen and Graham, were young, they moved onto the Peckwater Estate, where her parents were already living.

Her daughter Karen said: “Even when she stood down as chair of the TRA at 80, new residents, existing residents, would still knock on Mum’s door asking for advice, she never turned anyone away. She was more than happy to help anyone.

“At five, she’d take me down to the Prince of Wales to learn how to swim, or play football on the pitch.

“She kept us out of trouble. She always had such good friends and that’s what kept her going. She’d sit on her bench and have a coffee, chatting to everyone and anyone.

“In the school holidays, because she couldn’t get out too much, she’d love to sit there and watch the kids playing on the pitch, she loved that.

“She liked to be out around people all the time, she was a people person.”

Chelsea fan June thanked Arsenal last year for installing a new pitch for youngsters on the estate last year

Ms Dodds started working aged 14 and retired at 69 from her job as a court clerk at Central London County Court and the Royal Courts of Justice, off the Aldwych.

In 1973, she helped get the NW5 Project’s hut built, creating a lasting legacy for generations of children on the estate.

Sharley Newitt, project manager at the NW5 Project, first met Ms Dodds when she was 17 and a trainee.

“She was an asset on this estate and without her there would be nothing,” she said. “She was amazing with the kids, they loved her. Some of the older kids, she used to tell them off, or lock the gates on them for a laugh if they were misbehaving. Everyone knew who she was, she was so respected.”

The football pitch at Peckwater recently had a revamp, and Ms Dodds was there to see it, wearing her Arsenal shirt and kicking a ball around. Friends and family said that, while she had once been a Chelsea fan, living on the estate had converted her to the Gunners.

Ms Newitt added: “She fought really hard for that pitch and that pitch would not be standing if it wasn’t for June.

“Peckwater estate was very lucky to have June Dodds – all estates need someone like her. You look at this estate and what it’s got and she was the pillar of the community.

“She always wanted to learn, educate herself. Anyone could have knocked on her door and she would have helped anybody, regardless of who they were, where they were from.

“She didn’t just live in our community, she helped build it. And what she built will be for generations to come.”

June Dodds, far left, in a nostalgic photo taken on the Peckwater Estate in Kentish Town

Paying tribute, Meric Apak, the councillor for Kentish Town South, added: “I knew June from long before I became a councillor, going back to my own days as a tenant representative, and she left a lasting impression on me.

“I have many fond memories of her and of working alongside her over the years.

“June was a real community champion. Her commitment to Peckwater and to local residents was remarkable, and she gave so much of herself to the community over many years.

“I am particularly saddened by her passing. She will be very much missed, but I know she will also be remembered with enormous affection by so many of us who had the privilege of knowing her.”

The NW5 Project hopes to memorialise Ms Dodds in the near future with a new mosaic and bench.