Nicola Fisher, who has died aged 59, led a life marked by serendipitous career changes and dedicated community service. After starting at Sotheby's in Chester as a personal assistant, a misunderstanding led her into furniture restoration, where she became a master gilder, conserving 18th-century works including a Chippendale original. She worked in this field for nearly 20 years.
Community work and Teenage Kicks festival
In 2003, Fisher shifted to community development for Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council, organizing the Teenage Kicks music and arts festival for young people on a shoestring budget. The festival ran for nearly a decade until local government cuts ended it. This work inspired her to earn a first-class honours degree in social science from the Open University.
Trustee and ceramic artist
From around 2007, Fisher served as a trustee of West Mercia Women's Aid for about 10 years, several as chair, overseeing a seven-figure budget, two refuge houses, and nearly 50 staff. She also became a talented figurative ceramic sculptor after joining a pottery class, a passion that would have flourished further had illness not intervened.
Fisher survived leukaemia and lymphoma but succumbed to a rare autoimmune syndrome, a histiocytic disorder. She is survived by her husband, Andrew, and brother, Timothy.
