We are very sad to report the death of our much-loved colleague Vivienne Johnson.
She passed away last week in the Royal Berkshire Hospital after a long and brave battle with cancer.
An integral part of The Wokingham Paper, she has been involved in our predecessor, Xn magazine, and worked as part of our launch team.
Her byline has been on countless articles, covering everything from election hustings to discovering the green power behind The Mill at Sonning.
Her love of sport meant that she was frequently seen at big sporting games and local cricket matches, covering all the action with her camera.
Born in Manchester – and a passionate Manchester City fan – she first came to the Thames Valley to study soil science at the University of Reading. This led to a career at Thames Water, where she put her degree to good use.
But redundancy gave Vivienne a chance to enjoy a second career as a journalist.
She first came into contact with Xn when she sent in a story about the Reading Repair Cafe which had just launched.
After a subsequent meeting for coffee, Vivienne agreed to get some hands-on experience in the world of journalism and have an opportunity to explore the topics she was really interested in: environmental and sustainable living.
As part of this, she saw her work published in a string of national titles, sharing her views on everything from composting to repairing.
And when The Wokingham Paper launched in March 2015, we created a special ethical living page for her, allowing her to get out and meet people from across the borough who were making Wokingham that little bit greener.
The life of a journalist is a varied one, and Vivienne tackled and relished the different types of story she was asked to get involved in, but she was always at her happiest when writing about what you, our readers, were doing to make this borough a better place.
We will miss a dear friend, one who enriched our lives, taught us so much and was also a great listening ear.
And our pages will be all the poorer for no longer featuring her by-line.
Publisher Phil Creighton said: “It is unbearably sad that we have to bring you this awful news.
“Vivienne was more than a colleague to us. She was a real friend to us all, who had a big heart. She leaves a big hole in our team.”
