Sir John Read was much loved and will always be remembered by all his friends and family as well as those he worked with and helped through his charitable activities over the years. Sir John was knighted in 1976. Not only was he dedicated to his professional commitments but he also served on a number of charitable boards volunteering his time to assist in their growth and development. Sir John Read was trustee of the Brighton Festival and the London Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the Theatre Development Council. Among many charitable commitments, he was a trustee of Westminster Abbey and president of the Charities Aid Foundation. He was a long-serving governor, and the first honorary fellow, of the Administrative Staff College at Henley (now part of Reading University) where he had studied in the early 1950s. Sir John became a trustee of Brain Research Trust in 1980 and Chairman of Trustees from 1986. He retired from the Board in 2001. During his 21 years on the Trustee Board, Sir John led a series of fundraising initiatives which resulted in considerable growth in the Charity’s funds which in turn funded ground breaking neurological research at UCL Institute of Neurology.