On Thursday 9 December, Alex Mates sadly passed away.

Alex Mates was an ambitious, creative and enthusiastic individual who has a passion and love for the world around her and those in it.

She worked at Oxford City Council (later ODS) in the Recycling Team for almost five years to encourage waste reduction, working towards sustainable living. She had an unrivalled devotion to her work to make Oxford a greener place, and that could be seen every day throughout the work that she did.

Alex was always striving for more both inside and out of her working life. She worked on a number of projects to reduce waste and worked towards a circular economy. This included SHARE Oxford, A Library of Things, which she co-founded, Oxfordshire Reuses Zero Waste Festival and her work in organising and running repairs cafes.

Alex returned to Romania last year to continue with her ambition to tackle climate change and make a difference.

Maurice, co-founder with Alex of SHARE Oxford, said: ‘She was young, energetic, and very committed to the issues that underpin SHARE Oxford. Waste was her enemy. I’m sure that many people will have benefitted from knowing Alex and doing things with her. That’s certainly true of me.’

Alex will be dearly missed by all – she was a ray of sunshine and truly made the world a better place.

Alex’s funeral took place in her home in Romania on Sunday 12 December. We hope to organise a memorial for her in Oxford.

In Alex’s memory, we have set up this Just Giving page, with proceeds going to Mind Oxfordshire.