• The Award for Unsung Hero
  • St Joseph's RC High School
  • Silver Winners
  • 2022
  • Horwich, Bolton

Octogenarian Bill has volunteered for over 40 years at St Joseph’s to support pupils and staff. This has taken many forms, from football referee and governor to school counsellor. He has supported hundreds of pupils through some of the most traumatic times in their lives. He has fostered and adopted children through his work in social care and continues to support past pupils to this day, well into his eighties.

Known to the school’s senior team and wider community as a wise ‘listening ear’ and a source of well-judged advice, Bill has always supported colleagues and pupils’ families in staffing and parental issues and provided invaluable help and wisdom in the face of the myriad dilemmas that beset new leaders. He has been an essential component of the school’s pastoral system and is described fondly as an ‘unflustered and dedicated advocate of young people’.