Tribute to Reverend Katie Watson, by Hilary Henriques MBE
14 June 1974 – 20 September 2024
Hilary Henriques MBE, Chief Executive of Nacoa UK, shares her reflections on the sad passing of the late Captain Katie Watson
This tribute is long overdue because I did not want to face the fact that one of the most amazing people in the world, Katie Watson is no longer here.
Today I can see through the tears and hope to do justice to her work with Nacoa.
Seeing through the tears
Katie joined us in 1995 and became a Trustee in 1997 and Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection lead on our Consultative Council. A position she held until her untimely death on 20 September 2024.
In those early days, I thought of Nacoa as a four-legged stool – John Fenston, fellow-co-founder, Maya Parker, Katie and me. It was our shared childhood experiences which paved the way for deep friendships, and a shared desire to provide services for children of alcohol-dependent parents, a helpline freely given, without judgement, with understanding and compassion and believing in children until they were able to believe in themselves.
When John died in 2020, I asked Katie for her memories of him for the eulogy, she said:
“What a man and example to humanity. When my career was ending brutally and unexpectedly, John opened his home to me, I sat at his kitchen table totally broken and he held that sacred space for me, just by his presence.
I had become the terrified little girl frightened of going home, frightened of living, but John sat with me in that terror until it began to pass, and we could make a plan, not for the rest of my life which would have just finished me off, but to get through the next 24 hours.
John was an immeasurable human, and I shall miss his presence in my life.”
“What a woman and example to humanity.
I realise today that Katie’s experience and words mirror my own thoughts and feelings about her:
“What a woman and example to humanity.
When things were tough at Nacoa, Katie supported me so I could cope with the prospect of Nacoa being lost due to lack of funding, the helpline being denigrated by other charities and agencies who accused us of jeopardizing recovery for our callers’ parents and management who wanted to ‘chase the funding’ rather than remain true to the dreams of the five founders who wanted today’s children to have the help and support we did not have.
At those times I became that terrified little girl, frightened of losing Nacoa, frightened of the future but Katie understood and the very presence of her eased the terror onto shared shoulders, and we could make a plan, not a long-term, but how to get through the next 24 hours.
And I survived. Nacoa survived.
An immeasurable human being
Katie was an immeasurable human being, and I am deeply missing her presence in my life.
Katie often accepted the baton on our research and speaker panels and would send messages ‘tell Hilary not to worry, the Captain’s on it’! And I knew she would be, not half-arsed (quoting Katie’s daughter’s word in her eulogy when she said Katie aced at parenting). Whatever she did, she did brilliantly.
Certainty in what is, so often, an uncertain world.
Katie battled with her demons but never became them; her experiences as a child made her contribution to Nacoa even more poignant and meaningful.
Help and understanding
And her death even more tragic but her passion and desire to help children of alcohol-dependent children will live on.
She leaves an incredible legacy when many more of the 2.6M children living with parents who drink too much now know about Nacoa and have access to help and understanding; an opportunity for them to see that the world can be different from the one they know.
Our world, Nacoa world, my world has been forever changed by Katie and I thank her beloved wife and children, Emily, Elsa and Nate for sharing her with us.
