Clive Bennett- “Our great friend and mentor”
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our great friend and mentor, Clive Bennett.
Clive’s battle with melanoma cancer ended on Friday 28th August whilst on holiday with his family in Poole.
A personal tribute from Melvin Hurley founder of Careers-Action.
“Clive’s guidance, encouragement and mentoring was instrumental in establishing MKEA*. He was undoubtedly our most prolific and supportive speaker, advisor and encourager. He led nine Wednesday evening training sessions, attended all of our special events and met with over 70 individuals to share his unique perspective and enormous experience with career direction, CV’s, interview techniques and introductions to interim employment. Every time taking the hour plus journey from his Old Marlow home that he purchased before the birth of his two daughters Jo and Karen and regularly enjoying 3 mile strolls through the adjacent woods and hills with his wife Wendy.
Whenever the call came Clive always responded in the affirmative, unless he was away enjoying what so few of us ever get to experience, the world beneath the waves. He then, inevitably offered alternatives before and after, including suggestions for follow-up dates to meet with members individually.
A member of the High Wycombe Sub-Aqua Club, Clive organised trips around the world to archaeological sub-aqua sites from Vancouver Canada, to Mexico, Croatia (where the photo overleaf was taken of Clive alongside a contact mine!), to South America and many more in addition to trips in “home waters”, and even up a mountain in a lake.
Clive was simply unable to do things by halves, whatever he tackled he was “fully immersed”. Even though he recently attained the age of 70, with much disbelief on his part, as with others, he was fitter, and far more active than most half his age!
A true gentleman whose enthusiasm never wavered and commitment to helping and encouraging others was firmly rooted in everything he did. Thoroughly professional and horribly embarrassed if he considered himself to be otherwise; on the occasion of his first evening visit to MK College Chaffron Way Campus a wrong turning took him to Woughton Academy, where assured by the security guard that he was in the right place, he rang to say he could not find the right room and appeared to have been locked in! Undeterred he found a way out and seeing the sign for Woughton Centre assumed he had arrived, discovering otherwise after visiting a trampoline club, old-time dance, and swimming pool changing rooms! He eventually arrived around 30 minutes late, scorning himself as a headmaster to a lazy pupil and combining it with profuse and exceptionally generous apologies, but still looking immaculate in his business suit and tie.
More recently, following his departure from Brooklands Executives, he began work on a business idea that he was determined to pursue, test-marketing the concept of portfolio employment within the SME market. A subject that grew out of the regular conversations and meetings we shared to discover ways of helping executive job club members back in to work, thus utilising the huge waste of talent, experience, expertise and knowledge that had been dispensed with during the past eight years of recession. Clive was convinced that this was not only the way forward for many of us, but also a way that would help prevent small businesses failing by providing them with “understanding experts” to fill their “experience gaps”.
I am personally extremely grateful to have known Clive for almost 10 years, privileged to have had him as my mentor, and honoured to be able to count him a real and true friend.”
Melvin Hurley
August 2015
* Prior to becoming the charity Careers-Action we were known as MKEA.
