My friend Mala Wainwright, who has died aged 72, spent the last 14 years of her working life at the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), where she was considered part of the fabric of the organisation.
She became finance officer there in 1987, and retained her links with the GMIAU even in retirement, by becoming a trustee.
Mala and others at the GMIAU were involved in the campaign to save South Manchester Law Centre after its closure in 2014. She subsequently joined a steering group to support the formation of the Greater Manchester Law Centre, and became a volunteer and trustee from its opening in 2016.
As with all things, Mala put her heart and soul into the venture and not only sat on the board but was an active volunteer, undertaking financial and administrative management.
Born in Canterbury, Kent, to Florence (nee Evans), a teacher, and Fred Bennett, a coalminer and deputy at the Snowdown Colliery near Aylesham in Kent, Mala was the middle of three sisters.
After leaving Simon Langton girls’ school in Canterbury, she started out in catering, working for a time as a general assistant at the Marine hotel in Porthcawl, Wales, before gaining a City and Guilds qualification in cookery in 1968 from Clarendon College in Nottingham, where she met Edward Wainwright. They were married in 1969 and went on to have two daughters, Simone and Anna. The marriage ended in divorce in 1980.
As a single mum, Mala then earned a living in various ways, including sewing small toy frogs at home, working as a retail assistant and managing a betting shop. She eventually took A-levels at Fielden Park College in Manchester and did a course in computing. After that she worked in a variety of jobs in software and recruiting before moving to the GMIAU.
In 2002 Mala married Mike Dixon, a systems analyst, whom she had first met at the White Swan folk club in Ladybarn, Manchester, in 1982. They shared a love of food, music, film, art, playing cards, walking and narrowboating on canals.
Mala was diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago, and in the difficult period since then had faced the future with strength, dignity and good humour.
She is survived by Mike, Simone and Anna, her grandchildren, Zach, Rafi, Lizzie and Max, and her sister Sarah.
