Posted on January 14, 2019
The Asbestos Diseases Awareness Organization mourns the loss of Christine Winter, a remarkable asbestos safety advocate, who passed away on January 6. I will dearly miss Christine, who, in addition to being ADAO’s Prevention Advisory Board Co-Chair, she was also a very close and dear friend.
Christine dedicated more than 18 years of her life to the asbestos-safety movement, focusing primarily in the areas of education and advocacy. In 2009, with her husband Mark, they founded CNM Asbestos Solutions & Advocacy, a professional development organization that provided exemplary training to businesses throughout the United Kingdom and world to raise awareness about proper handling of asbestos in the workplace. She was also involved with the GMB, one of the largest trade unions in the U.K. Christine and Mark, who is also a Prevention Advisory Member, were an amazing duo as they both practiced safety and prevention together.
Christine possessed an extraordinary ability to communicate important, dense information in an easily-understandable way. Writing for ADAO’s blog in 2015, she explained the need for at-home asbestos safety by cautioning against a “do-it-yourself” approach: “So what’s the big deal?” her piece asks, pondering the dangers of working on the asbestos insulation in your own home. “ 2012 Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP) Fundraising Event Christine’s influence is present in much of the work that ADAO does to this day. Her emphasis on disease prevention has colored ADAO’s overall philosophy of advocacy, and helped us formulate a favorite maxim: “while promising research continues, prevention remains the only cure.” Her expert use of social media and other online tools has helped us bring our message to a multitude of people. She truly recognized its importance and the power of collaboration as we worked together to ‘partner for prevention’. Her humor, wit and charm brightened every day, as she was able to connect and share with anyone in the world. In fact, in 2016 Christine was recognized with the Alan Reinstein Award for her leadership and dedication. Christine was an extremely dedicated, loyal advocate, but more importantly she was an incredible friend. She brought joy to many people, and was the kind of friend who always let you know you had her support. Her generosity, kindness, and support to both mesothelioma patients, and others were truly inspiring. Christine is survived by Mark, her daughter Charlotte, and the countless lives she touched through her advocacy. Christine will be dearly missed, forever. With love, Linda Reinstein