Jeremy, speaking at the Eid party held at the John Scurr Community Centre in 2007.

Download our book of tribute to Jeremy

Letter of condolence from Arsenal Football Club

In memory of a dear friend and colleague

Many of you will have had the opportunity to work with Jeremy Hopgood, our Director of Regeneration Programmes, who sadly passed away suddenly on the 21st January, 2010. This page is a tribute to Jeremy's outstanding contribution to supporting the communities of north and east London and to the lasting impact that he made on his colleagues and the many organisations he worked in partnership with.

Thank you to those of you who contributed to the book of tribute we put together to present to Jeremy's family. You can view an electronic version of the book by clicking on the link on this page. You can find out a bit more about Jeremy's work for us by reading on...

Jeremy at Newlon and Newlon Fusion

Jeremy joined Newlon in the autumn of 2001 as Community Projects Officer, at a time when we were first establishing our community regeneration team.

With a quick mind and being both highly articulate and personable he was a natural for the kind of partnership building required to make community projects really come to life. He also had a real enthusiasm for helping people and a strong commitment to social justice which meant that he invested a lot of himself into the success of his work.

From 2004 to 2007 he was seconded to the Arsenal Regeneration Team, the small and innovative project group set up in partnership between Newlon, Islington Council and Arsenal FC to pave the way at community level for Arsenal’s move from Highbury to Emirates stadium and the massive regeneration of the surrounding area.

Many of us at Newlon probably take the Arsenal Regeneration Area very much for granted now that it has become a part of our everyday jobs, but it is worth pausing to understand the scope and uniqueness of the programme. Not only is it one of Europe’s largest regeneration programmes of recent years, it is also the only project of its type where a major football club has moved to a new home and committed so much to the local community. That the Arsenal Regeneration Area is so much more than a belt of new housing owes a great deal to the work that Jeremy did. The Gold Award for Housing Excellence that Newlon won for our work at Arsenal is also a tribute Jeremy’s commitment and involvement on the ground.

Following his return from Arsenal Jeremy was instrumental in helping Newlon Fusion get off the ground, in saving the John Scurr Community Centre in Limehouse from the threat of closure and launching an effective and wide range of community regeneration projects. He will be sorely missed by all at Newlon Fusion as well as colleagues at Newlon and Outward and at the many organisations he worked in partnership with to help improve people’s lives.