Those were the days

I worked with Bill at Redhouse for seventeen years. First as a youthworker and then Bill encouraged me to take on the role as senior worker.Not an easy task as it mean't more sessions and longer hours and as I had a young family it posed problems but Bill encouraged me and he allowed the post to revolve around my family. Bill was a good boss and I gave him 100% but I still knew when to approach and when to keep my distance.

His ideas were great but left the donkey work to his staff but we were happy to do/achieve what he wanted.He loved the presentation nights and the young people we worked with enjoyed his presentation speeches. Rewarding the young people were his thing and the young people treasured the medals,certificates,trophies and the attention they got whilst receiving them.

Bill was all for new initiatives and at Redhouse we took on volunteers and then Bill secured the funding/approval for local people to be paid whilst working in the youth centre. This continued and Interchange North was born. The company provided training for local people of all ages who were unemployed to retrain and seek new employment.

I have so many memiors that I could write a book but I just wanted to share the above thoughts and let you his family know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless

Val Willis
Senior Youth Worker
Children's Services