I, too, am sorry to hear of your predicament . . . . everyday stuff in my job I'm afraid !
But the bit that surprises me is
Indeed I have regained a class 1 medical (with a proximity endorsement) for work, but I know that the CAA medical branch are reluctant to issue a class 2 for a PPL
How do you know that ? Has it actually been stated ?
My experience ( AME = 23 years) is that once the kind folk at the "
Belgrano" are persuaded that any kind of professional class 1 certification can be re-considered, albeit with a "
non-solo" limitation, then they are USUALLY willing also to consider the issue of an unrestricted JAR class 2 for recreational flying. There may, of course, be individual reasons why that is not the case.
The "
non-solo" limitations are different on UK and JAR certificates. For pilots, on a JAR class 1 medical, the limitation is "
OML" (= Operational Multicrew Limitation); for ATCO's, on a UK class 1 medical, it's a "
proximity" endorsement, as you mentioned. Same thing in principle.
Might be worth while asking the Medical Dept (politely !) about the possibility of a recreational JAR class 2. Good luck !