The early days of 2026 delivered sad news to activists from across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. We heard of the passing of Ruth Tetlow, and then of former Pushbikes campaigner John Pitcock. Both lived full and meaningful lives, and brought together many old faces from Allison Street alongside current campaigners to celebrate everything they gave to this city.
In Memory
Ruth Tetlow
Ruth had been a long-standing supporter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth, regularly contributing to our campaigns. She was a committed Christian with a strong belief in interfaith dialogue, and brought these facets of her life together when — with others — she helped create Footsteps, faiths for a low carbon future, in the run-up to the Paris Climate Change talks in 2015. BFOE continues to work regularly with Footsteps today.
You can read more about Ruth’s life and achievements in her obituary in the Church Times.
In Memory
John Pitcock
John was one of a small band of cycle campaigners who established Pushbikes — the Birmingham Cycling Campaign — from the late 1970s. Pushbikes began as a sub-campaign of Birmingham Friends of the Earth in the early days of their presence in the city, operating out of what we all know well as the Warehouse.
John was also an active folk dancer and was involved with the Inter Varsity Association in Birmingham. There’s an interesting summary by John of Pushbikes’ first five years — if you’d like to read it, drop Chris an email and he’ll share it with you.
Ruth and John will be fondly remembered by many. The celebrations of both their lives brought together a wonderful gathering of old faces from the early days of Allison Street alongside current campaigners from various faiths across the city — and created a welcome opportunity for many people to reconnect.
If you would like to be put back in touch with others for whom we hold contact details, please drop Chris an email at info@birminghamfoe.org.uk with FAO Chris in the subject line, and he’ll do his best to help people stay connected.
