Friends gathered this week in St Martin’s Gardens to remember Barry Sullivan from the Camden Town Neighbourhood Advice Centre

A BOUQUET of red roses were placed in a Camden Town park on Tuesday night as friends gathered to remember the life of one of the boroughs most effective campaigners.

Barry Sullivan, who passed away in 2008, was the founder of the Camden Town Neigh­bourhood Advice Centre (CTNAC) in Greenland Road, a haven of advice, help and comfort. His work saw help thousands of people struggling with every thing from housing, education and work through to complicated legal issues.

Nothing was too big for him to handle, friends recalled as they gathered in St Martin’s Gardens, and his tireless work on behalf of those who needed him saw him chalk up many a David versus Goliath victory. The centre’s closure in 2003 after a long campaign to keep it open, saw Barry stage a last ditch roof-top protest.

But his work continued, advocating in courts, council offices and tribunals for those in desperate need.

Barry Sullivan

Now a bench in the gardens has become a beacon for his friends to gather once a year and remember the impact the activist had. The setting is fitting – a stone’s throw from the neighbourhood centre he managed. The gardens also boast benches dedicated to other community stalwarts.

Seats marking the work of the former Mayor and Labour councillor Gloria Lazenby, and the 1950s rent strike veteran and campaigner Ellen Luby –renowned for making her feelings towards elected officials known at council meetings – are nearby.

Friend Una Doyle said of Barry: “He had time for everyone. As soon as he stepped out on to the street people would be saying hello to him. It would take him absolutely ages to get from A to B because he knew, and was loved, by so many people.”

Barry had many strings to his bow – he would check up regularly on people he knew might need a hand, and did it under the guise of delivering them a copy of the New Journal.

Friend Plume Tarrant said: “One time he asked me to do his ‘paper round; for him. He would walk round putting CNJs through letter boxes and catching up with people. It was incredible – it covered so many houses.”

In the early 1980s, Barry set up a cafe and recording studio in Mornington Crescent. He had an open-door policy, which he later applied to the advice centre he managed.

Cathy Pound, who helped at CTNAC and knew Barry for more than two decades, added: “Today, the fighting spirit of Barry is needed more than ever. He created whole eco-system of activists. He never gave up.”

The old neighbourhood centre has recently become home to the Camden Community Law Centre.

Camden alderman and former councillor Roger Robinson added: “There is an irony that Barry’s centre has, so long after closing, returned to doing the work he did. I think he’d be pleased to know that.”