Ray Gipson was born in 1940 and died at the age of 84 on Friday 29th November 2024.
Let Ray tell you a little about himself:
“I’ve lived around here all my life though my Mum was evacuated to have me as a baby but after 10 days came back to Bow, where I spent the rest of my life.”
Ray remembers when pubs were used as local community centres. Most of the pubs fielded their own football teams and Ray first played in the Hand and Flower FC which he setup with the publican, Jack Morgan. Ray went on to create the Parnell Rovers FC and Rayjack FC. Our header photo shows the Rayjack FC, with Ray on the left. These teams all played in the Hackney & Leyton League from the early 1960’s until 1976.
Ray said: “Every friend I’ve got I met in the pub and through sport or football. We’re still friends now we’re pensioners.
“I always belonged to a Loan Club in one of the Pubs, because you couldn’t borrow money anywhere around here. No one had bank accounts, you had to have collateral to have a bank account and you had to have guarantees to have a bank account. If you belonged to the local Loan Club you started paying your money the first week in January, then come summer you could have a loan out of your money plus a bit more on top, to have a weeks holiday down the caravan or somewhere like that.”
Ray said: “Age UK asked me and a couple others to go round the local area to ask elderly men to join Age UK in 2006. At first there was a bit of hesitancy, but after regrouping, Age UK had the idea of starting a men’s club. It started with just four members.”
Longtime Geezer, Barrie Stradling said: “I was introduced to Ray by Age UK East London when I volunteered there and was accepted into the Geezers Club. Ray became a close friend of mine who was always a pleasure to be with, with his personality, drive and Community spirit.
“Ray was a true force of nature in and for the local Community. He was a Local Liberal Councillor for Tower Hamlets, and he had a vast amount of connections in the East End, especially the Bow Wards.
“The Geezers Club was founded based on what men of a certain age said they would like to do to alleviate social isolation, and loneliness in their old age.”
Barrie provided this list of some of the Projects that Ray helped instigate and or ran:
- Active Energy – This was a university linked project about what was not being used efficiently in Energy Production
- Mens Health – sculpture revealed at Bow school
- Where’s My Boozers Gone? – This was about the demise of East End pubs and the local community ethos this included producing a Calendar The Pun with The Geezers only partially clothed to promote this project, which was also allied to The Hairy Bikers filming Ray for a programme about East End Pubs
- Being The Story – A project where older men were interviewed on stage about their lives
- The Shuffle Festival – Danny Boyle’s project in Mile End Cemetery in East London
- Sleep Research in older men
- Art Projects
- Intergenerational work with local Schools – This included Men’s Health and Art Project with Bow School that combined Teenagers learning about Men’s Health from the older generation and an art project, Primary School children were invited to give their perception of the local area in comparison to what the older generation perceived.
- Assisted Technology projects – This was to teach older people what Information Technology was, how it could be used and where used in the modern era.
- Local History Projects
Local artist, Katja Rosenberg, who has worked with The Geezers said:
“This week, I had to say goodbye to such a wonderful friend, Ray Gipson, East End geezer and appropriately for that reason the lead of the Age UK group called The Geezers. The Geezers were, and are, always happy to mix with others, see new things, share their stories, and open the fridge for their ‘medicine‘ which comes in the shape of beer bottles. They campaigned to raise awareness of what the disappearance of traditional pubs does to the local community, with their great campaign “Where‘s my Boozer Gone?.
“They thought up many fun projects, especially with Lucy Schofield and her fab arty cab.
Louise Gridley helped them create their LEGENDARY naked calendar, Paul who took the best photos of the Geezers’ homes, my lucky self and many other creatives.
“The Geezers have been run by the next legend in line, Eddie Snooks, for some time now, which is so enjoyable to witness.
“Ray‘s home was a museum of beautiful things that were meaningful to him and his life, carefully displayed, and from his computer, with Barrie by his side, he communicated his mission into the world.
“Take care buddy, heaven won’t be as quiet from now on. Not on your cloud, anyway
“Being sent this video to introduce me to the Geezers was the first time I heard about Ray.”
Andy Porter, who started this website, said: “When the Geezers were thinking up a name for this website, and at a time when websites were often ‘My This’ or ‘My That’ I suggested My Bow. Ray disagreed – he wanted to call it Our Bow. And that says everything about him.
“Ray understood the need for strong communities and he worked tirelessly to support and expand the horizons of his community, in ways too many to list here. Enough to say he was one of the best community workers I ever met.
“RIP Ray. You were a great bloke.”
The Just Giving page in memory of Ray Gipson to raise money for St Joseph’s Hospice had now raised over £800.
Ray’s funeral in on Friday 3rd January. We’ll be leaving from the Tredegar Road end of Usher Road, London, E3 at 1.30pm for the 2.30pm funeral at the City of London Crematorium, Aldersbrook Rd, London E12 5DQ. It’s 15 mins walk from Manor Park tube on the Elizabeth Line.
The wake at Poplar Rowing club near Island Gardens DLR station from approx 4pm.
Since our last article we’ve received some excellent comments about Ray:
I knew Ray when he was a great local Liberal Councillor along with Janet Ludlow. He has served Bow in many different ways, and will be remembered for all the work he did RIP.
John Forster
I only knew Ray through local football in the 70s. But he never passed me in the street without a quick chat. Everybody said he was one of life’s good guys. RIP
Peter Noah
We are so sorry to hear about the sad news of Ray passing RIP. He was a lovely friend and Geezer he will be sadly missed.
Dennis and Ellen
My own personal memories of Ray are as a local councillor. He worked tirelessly for local people. Later as we got to know each other and I used to visit him to try to straighten out his laptop and connection to the internet using the dreaded Talk Talk. In 2017 he managed to blag me into taking over the running of this website. I’ll miss his company and friendship.
Alan Tucker