A ‘generous and passionate’ university lecturer died from Covid months after receiving a life-changing kidney transplant.

Fiona Steggles, a journalism lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), died in February at the age of 52 with her family by her side.

She lived in Burton-in-Kendal with her husband Mark Elliott and their two sons Jack and Joe.

The mum of two was a BBC radio and television journalist before joining UCLan 10 years ago to inspire the next generation of reporters.

UCLan’s head of School, Arts and Media, Dr Andrew Churchill, paid tribute to Fiona.

“The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) community has been deeply saddened at the recent passing of Fiona Steggles,” he said.

“Fiona was a valued colleague, working as a senior lecturer in broadcasting on the journalism course for over ten years, following a successful career with the BBC in the North West.

“Fiona’s career started in 1993 as a BBC radio journalist, moving to NorthWest Tonight as a reporter and then as a producer.

“She was very successful in her broadcast career and won Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for best regional television programme, and later served as a judge for the RTS.

“Fiona brought this broadcast experience to UCLan in 2012 so she could train the next generation of journalists. She loved working at UCLan, and passed on her passion and creativity to so many students who are now working in newsrooms across the North West and beyond.

“As a colleague, she was generous and supportive and there isn’t a single member of the team who doesn’t have a story to tell about how she’d helped them.

“Fiona had a lot of other interests outside of work; she had a lifelong involvement with the Youth Hostel Association and just recently was voted in as a trustee of the charity.

“Fiona lived with a number of health issues, but she refused to let her health get in the way of what she wanted to do, she was determined to make the most of every day and every opportunity.

“Sadly, after contracting Covid-19 in February, Fiona passed away with her family at her side.”

Fiona received a kidney transplant last summer after two and half years on dialysis due to a rare health condition that gradually affected her kidneys.

Mr Elliott donated his kidney to an organ bank as part of a national kidney sharing scheme where couples are paired up in a bid to increase the chance of a match.