Lydia Hodgins was born, and lived for most of her life, in Northern Ireland. She spent a large part of her adult life following her desire to work in the voluntary and charity sector. Lydia placed a high value on community and she championed people who were being held back by inequality and inequity.

Lydia had a special talent for choosing or making thoughtful gifts for people. She gave gifts that showed that she knew you. Sometimes it would be something that you wanted or needed but hadn’t mentioned and sometimes it would be something you had never even thought of. It would always be a gift that met a personal desire, or need, or communicated something about her love or appreciation for you.

After a short but devastating illness, Lydia died in 2023 aged 32. Lydia was an adventurer, athlete, linguist, writer and entrepreneur. She was a wife, daughter, sister, auntie and friend. It is impossible to describe our beloved Lydia with a single characteristic, but what is striking is that throughout this awful illness, Lydia remained the same thoughtful, determined person, looking out for her friends, family and community and advocating for people affected by social injustice and inefficient bureaucracy. She also continued giving thoughtful gifts, mentioning at one point during her very limiting illness that it was all she could do to show her love and to be present in some way with her friends and family.

We are so proud of Lydia. We are inspired by her resolution to make the world a better place as well as by her attentive, perceptive gift-giving. In honour of Lydia’s legacy of love we have set up Lydia’s Gift, a network of craftspeople who make and donate beautiful, practical gifts for people in need.