A “key figure” in Richmond borough’s care of the mentally ill has passed away at the age of 70.

Kath Raven, who spent 25 years as the treasurer for first Twickenham Mind, and then the merged Richmond borough Mind, died on Boxing Day 2016 after being taken ill during Christmas celebrations.

Born near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, Mrs Raven moved to the borough when her first husband, a civil servant, was posted to London.

The couple divorced shortly afterwards and she embarked on study for a degree in physics from the Open University after getting a job at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington.

As Kath Swinnerton – before her second marriage – she juggled being a single mother to two daughters and working for one of the borough’s best-known mental health charities.

She worked at Twickenham Mind’s drop-in centre in Hampton Road, before it merged with other branches under the Richmond borough umbrella.

She was then responsible for the finances of ten projects for Mind, despite having no formal accountancy qualifications.

She married Gerrard Raven, a Reuters news agency journalist, in 1994.

She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease little more than a decade later, which eventually forced her to give up her work for Mind.

Mrs Raven was awarded a lifetime achievement award from Richmond Council for her voluntary service upon stepping down from Mind in 2008.

She remained a keen supporter of mental health work, latterly through the Together as One charity, and as a member of the congregation at Teddington Methodist Church.

In her final years, Mrs Raven was a resident of the Deer Park View care home in Teddington, and she died in Kingston Hospital.