Remembering Frank Heyworth
Remembering Frank Heyworth
As then Director General of Eurocentres, a prominent language teaching organisation based in Switzerland, with schools in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the USA, Frank played a key role in designing the framework for the establishment of Eaquals in 1991, along with the nine other founders. He then became Eaquals’ first ‘Inspections Officer’ and was responsible for leading the design of the initial inspection scheme and ensuring that centres represented by all co-founders underwent rigorous inspection. From 2000 to 2003 Frank then served as Eaquals’ part-time Secretary General, with the added responsibility for organising twice yearly Eaquals’ meetings, seminars and conferences during those years. He was also actively involved in the many projects Eaquals initiated such as public guidelines for quality language education and the first electronic European Language Portfolio for adults. He continued contributing very actively to Eaquals’ development and professional meetings right up to the last meeting he attended, the 30th anniversary conference in Belfast in October 2021. Alongside his work for Eaquals, in 1999 Frank became a key contributor to the ECML’s programme of activities, and in more recent years he was appointed as one of the ECML consultants overseeing the development and running of ECML projects and initiatives. In 2020, during the pandemic, Frank took charge of an initiative called the Future of Language Education in the Light of Covid Lessons learned and ways forward, a theme originally proposed by Eaquals colleagues, two of whom were involved in the team. This lasted until early 2023. You can find the ECML ‘farewell’ to Frank and their book of condolences here. Frank will be remembered by so many of us for his modest warm-hearted colleagueship, his superb people skills, his wisdom and his sense of humour. He was generous with his time and support for others: over the 33 years of Eaquals’ existence, he contributed so much, not just to the extraordinary range of professional work that has taken place, but also to the very spirit and human fellowship that has always been a key part of the association. He not only shared and shaped our original vision but fostered and promoted it. We are deeply grateful to have worked with him, to have learned from him and to have been his friends. He will be sorely missed by so many of us. On behalf of all those who worked with him we would like to express our deepest sympathy to Frank’s wife, Anne-Marie, and family.
Peter Brown |
It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Frank Heyworth, one of the founders of Eaquals. He passed away in Lausanne on 12th January 2025 after a lengthy illness.
