David Powell obituary

My friend and former colleague, David Powell, who has died aged 78, was, for a quarter of a century from 1968 onwards, the backbone of Inter-Action – one of the most influential arts, education and development charities of its time. If its mercurial founder-director Ed Berman was the front legs, David said, then he was the back legs of the Inter-Action pantomime horse. During David’s time there Inter-Action spawned, among other things, the City Farms movement, the Weekend Arts College, a menagerie of arts buses, and spin-off projects in several counties. The Inter-Action centre in London’s Kentish Town, the construction of which David oversaw, was of the UK’s first purpose-built community arts and resource centre. David began working for Inter-Action at weekends in 1968, while still a student, moving on to become a full-time worker on graduation the following year. In the early years he took on many roles – performer, theatre games workshop leader, trainer and youth leader. From the early 1970s until leaving employment with the charity in 1986, he was finance director. He became a trustee in 1987 and Inter-Action’s chair from 1990 to 1992. On leaving his job at Inter-Action David j