My friend Amanda Morris-Drake, who has died aged 64 from cancer, was a teacher and advocate for a child’s right to a creative education. Her response to her diagnosis was: “But I have so much more to give.”
Her career culminated in her appointment in 2014 as head of the Pilgrim Pupil Referral Unit in Cambridge; the school supports children and young people in hospital with complex mental and physical health needs.
Her vision was to make it a place of hope. Staff spoke of her kindness, her generosity and her fight for the right education for each child. Under her leadership, the Pilgrim PRU was deemed outstanding on two consecutive Ofsted inspections.
Her dedication to helping people extended far beyond her work. She volunteered with refugees in Calais, with homeless people, as an independent visitor for a boy in residential care and with Cambridge Past Present & Future, a charity protecting the city and its environment. She was also a trustee of the Batemans Trust (a small charity in Chennai, India, caring for vulnerable children).
Amanda was born in Cambridge, the daughter of Joy (nee Norbury), a social worker, and Peter Morris, a lawyer. She attended King’s school, Ely, before studying education (specialising in drama) at Exeter University. She married Nick Drake, whom she first met at school, in 1992. They shared a love of travel and adventure, and had two daughters.
Creativity was a thread that ran through Amanda’s life. She loved books, theatre, galleries, musicals, film, poetry, fabrics and colour.
Amanda wanted all children to have access to the arts. She would keep the value of a creative curriculum on the agenda of board meetings at the Pilgrim and also volunteered for Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination, a charity supporting disadvantaged children to be creative in nature. One child told her that “this definitely made me feel how lucky we are to have such a beautiful world”.
She is survived by Nick, her daughters, Amy and Myah, a grandchild, Marella, and her brothers, Mark and Jim.
