Robert James Craven-Griffiths

  Noted events in his life were:

• Obituary. When my brother Bob, who has died aged 60, became active in the Young Oxfam movement, he gave up his ambitions for money and status overnight, and pledged himself to the plight of the poor. He resigned as a trainee manager at Jaeger, ran an Oxfam shop for a while, then qualified and worked as a youth worker until ill-health forced retirement in his late 40s.

Being born into a loving family in Battersea, south London, meant that Bob understood the importance of family - of taking responsibility and always being available. He attended Henry Thornton grammar school in Clapham. In 1970, he married Rose, also from Battersea, and the following year they moved to Leicester, where Rose took a maths degree. They had a family of seven children, five of whom were adopted; somehow, they balanced their shifts at work to share the childcare.

What made Bob so exceptional was his passionate commitment to the dispossessed and the vulnerable. He despised cant and hypocrisy, and was fearless in speaking out against injustice. He was known widely for his unsolicited acts of kindness; he would appear from nowhere to fix someone's kitchen or garden, or make miniature shops for the infants' school, refusing more than a cup of coffee for his pains. He had a restless energy that made him impatient to get things done, and he kept fit by playing table tennis, cycling and walking - in keeping with his youthful passion for sport.

His practical jokes were tempered by his warm and affectionate nature. He was unpredictable, and certainly never boring. He is survived by Rose, six children and two grandchildren. His eldest child, Tanya, died in an accident at 28. His loss leaves those who knew him quite bereft.

Robert married Rose Nora Anne Wingrove, daughter of George J. Wingrove and Rose S. Jackson, Q4 1970 in Battersea. (Rose Nora Anne Wingrove was born Q3 1952 in Lambeth.)