Tributes for Raymond, a much-loved care worker

Tributes have been paid to a dedicated city council worker who helped hundreds of the Capital's sick and disabled. Raymond Nicholson has died at the age of 55.

Born on 2 August in 1954 in Newcastle upon Tyne, Raymond grew up in County Durham.

He attended the Lord Lawson Grammar School where his father was a teacher and married Janice in 1979 before moving to Edinburgh in 1986.

Raymond loved the Capital as if he had lived here all his life. Janice said: "He said he'd never go back again. He loved the people up here."

Raymond first worked as a window fitter in Edinburgh and the Lothians and later switched jobs, following the same career as his wife.

Beginning his career as a social care worker in the Capital in 1998, Raymond was dedicated to the job and worked up until two days before he was suddenly admitted to hospital with leukaemia.

His final post at the council was with the re-ablement team in Corstorphine, ensuring patients leaving hospital were able to settle back into their homes.

On top of his job with the council, Raymond worked for a nursing agency with his wife.

Lynn Forrest, home care re-ablement co-ordinator for the city council, worked with Raymond for ten years.

She said: "He dedicated his life to helping others and was a lovely person to work with, very easy-going and always telling jokes.

"He'll be missed not just by his colleagues who felt privileged to have worked with him but all those people who are now leading more independent and healthy lives thanks to his expertise and kindness."

Selfless in his care for others, Raymond hardly slowed down in his final years.

Janice said: "The times he was off ill were for really good reasons.

"He did love his work and everyone he worked with. He was such a people person. All the jobs he ever had were people-orientated."

The family said Raymond's cheerful and jokey personality will not be forgotten. At his funeral, his son, Stuart, and daughter, Laura, told how the cracker jokes from each Christmas would serve as his material for the next year.

Raymond was also a wonderful grandfather to Liam, seven, and Lily, two.

Janice said: "He was very close to them. He used to do a lot of dancing and painting with them. In later years Raymond couldn't dance as he had arthritis in his knees but when he was young he got certificates for dancing."

Raymond died on 7 January at the Western General. A collection at the funeral and among Janice's colleagues raised 500 for leukaemia patients.