HOME   ARCHIVE   GALLERY   SHOP   ABOUT US      
 

 
SALFORD POLITICAL STALWART REG HOWARD PASSES AWAY
 

Star date: 27th March 2017

FROM HELPING CITY'S KIDS TO FIGHTING FOR ELDERLY RIGHTS

Swinton's Reg Howard passed away last night after a brave battle against cancer. Reg was well known in the city's political circles for airing his opinions, standing as an Independent candidate for Pendlebury in 2010, and in community circles for his generosity towards youth groups.

Latterly, Reg was a keen supporter of Salford's Death Cafe which helped him come to terms with his illness... "He was a real trooper, a great friend and a great loss to Salford" says former city councillor Joe O'Neill.

Full details here...


Reg Howard was one of those larger than life Salford characters who always spoke his mind and always had a joke to follow. He wasn't frightened of offending anyone in articulating what he believed was right, often commenting on Salford Star articles, or being the focus of those articles.

In 2010, Reg actually stood as an Independent candidate in Pendlebury, determined to give the elderly a voice in the face of cutbacks to services... "When I try to speak to someone at Salford Council they don't want to know" he explained "So I thought 'No-one is going to speak up for me, so I'll do it myself'…The only way I'm going to get my voice heard is to get on the Council." *

He didn't make it onto the Council but if anyone thought they could silence Reg they had another think coming. When the Council began introducing charges for Care On Call, he spoke up again, and not for himself...

"It's other people I'm worried about" he said "In my life, I try to look after the interests of the old and disabled. An extra fiver a week for a sick or disabled person is scandalous. The Council know exactly who they have hit - not everybody, just those who couldn't afford it in the first place!" **

As well as standing as an Independent candidate, Reg also had a spell in the Green Party, before trying to form his own Salford City Party. For politicians, Reg was a formidable figure – but there was also another side to the former Salford youth worker, helping people and not wanting any publicity in return.

When Reg read that Rhys Shaw, a member of Salford Musical Youth, had his guitar and equipment stolen, he was quick to donate funds to replace them, providing there was no publicity, and when Rhys' band Operation Detonation got to the final of a music competition he again helped out with transport costs.

Rhys and his mum, Kim Shaw, who runs Salford Musical Youth, built up a lasting relationship with Reg and today she remembered him with fondness...

"He showed a great interest in our music group and understood what we were trying to achieve" she said "You can't put a price on his kindness – he was a large character with a big heart to match. We visited him regularly and every time he saw us he gave us a joke. He was an inspiration to Rhys, who told me earlier that nothing he could say would be good enough to describe Reg's generosity.

"Reg was very vocal with an old school attitude but he will be sorely missed by a lot of people" she added "He left a legacy in his own way."

Over the past months, Reg has also been a keen supporter of Salford's Death Cafe, which helps people come to terms with terminal illness. He wrote a short article for the Salford Star about the venture, which ended "Death is a reality of life and not the morbid subject that many people think..." ***

Reg faced death as he did life, bravely and without fear.

"I was gutted when I got a call late last night" said friend and former councillor Joe O'Neill "He was an activist and helped a lot of people in his time. Whatever he could do he did. He was a real trooper, a great friend and a great loss to Salford..."


See previous Salford Star articles related to Reg...

*Reg and His Battle Buggy – click here

**Care On Call Cuts Leave Hundreds of Salford's Elderly in Danger – click here

***Salford's Death Cafe Welcomed - click here

Viviane Ftranchino wrote
at 05:34:59 on 29 March 2017
I am so sorry to hear this sad news about Reg, he was the man I fell in love with in 2011 and I have so many great memories to help me deal with him gone, but never forgotten. He touched my soul and taught me many things,He always had a joke or two to tell me and even though we are miles apart I will always love him and think of him. He was a great man.
?
Stuart cremins wrote
at 14:21:18 on 28 March 2017
I had the pleasure of meeting Reg in 2010 in the Pendlebury elections.Such a great guy.
?
Rayofsunshine wrote
at 14:20:48 on 28 March 2017
Sad to hear of the death of Reg! Although we frequently disagreed, Reg struck me as fair and good natured.
?
Howard Balkind wrote
at 07:10:41 on 28 March 2017
A true campaigner and opponent. ATECIOMHDRIP
?
Joe Oneill wrote
at 19:03:00 on 27 March 2017
Thanks to the star for these words, Reg never flinched from saying what he thought when he was diagnosed with cancer he said they will have to drag me to agecroft, they gave him six months he took the buggers for ten, i have to thank his nurses and the folks at Salford Royal they gave everything, we all know we have to go sometime but it's harder when you get a death sentence, he was born in Salford into a family with little and left this world the same but the friends he met along the way. I will miss you mate.
?
Please enter your comment below:
 
 
 
Forever manchester
Salford Star
advertisement
 
Contact us
phone: 07957 982960
Facebook       Twitter
 
 
Recent comments
article: PAUL HOUGHTON BRINGING MOSAICS AND TAPE ART TO SALFORD
Hi Paul I hope you are well, please can you tell me how much it would be to have the George Best Mosaic made? Indeed if you are st... [more]
article: CUSSONS SOAP AND KERSAL MOOR SALFORD – A VERY CLEAN STORY
I am Marjorie Goodwin's grandson. I still have that battered tobacco tin. I don't know what happened to the silver one! ... [more]
article: SALFORD PRECINCT SHOPPERS STUNG BY PARKING `RACKET’
I parked here with a disability badge and my back tyre was slightly over line as I suffer with coordination and it says if I appea... [more]
article: SALFORD LOST STREETS
4 North Johnson Street, Salford. My Great Grandfather was the son of Household James Rowlands 68. x2. His wife Frances Rowlands... [more]
article: John Cooper Clarke On Life In Higher Broughton.
lived for many years as a kid in Murray st. Hilda who was mum to John would visit my grandmother and would tell us about what john... [more]
 
 
 
 
 
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
 
 
 

Donate

Help the Salford Star...

all donations welcome

 
 

More articles...

SALFORD STAR CLOSES AFTER 15 YEARS WITH ATTITUDE AND LOVE XXX

Star date: 17th May 2021

SALFORD STAR – 15 YEARS OF ATTITUDE AND LOVE XXX

The Salford Star closes tonight after 15 years of giving the community a voice, holding power to account and bigging up all the great things that have happened in the city.

Thousands of people in Salford have been involved in one way or another with the Star and we'd like to thank them all. Salford is a very special city and, hopefully, we've given it a very special community publication.

For the final curtain click here... 

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE: HOW SALFORD COUNCIL TRIED TO BLOCK AND DISCREDIT THE STAR

Star date: 17th May 2021

THREATS, LIES, FEAR AND LOATHING IN SALFORD...

Today, the Salford Star shuts down but we write this article as a warning to others who may follow on the pitfalls of founding a genuine publication that aims to give the community a voice and hold public bodies up to account. 

They will try to discredit you, block information and shut you down. Here the Salford Star editor, Stephen Kingston, looks at how democracy perished badly under the Salford mayoral system.

Full details here...

SALFORD HAS 7 NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES AS RESTRICTIONS ARE EASED

Star date: 17th May 2021

A WHIFF OF FREEDOM AS RESTRICTIONS ARE EASED

Salford has 7 new coronavirus cases, down from the previous day's 14, while the seven day rate per 100,000 population now stands at 30.1, down from 30.9. There have been no new virus-related deaths announced by Salford Royal Hospital.

Today sees restrictions eased and the first whiff of freedom in over a year. It's also the final coronavirus bulletin from the Salford Star which is closing. Here we look back over 14 months of the pandemic and the absolute communication failings of Salford City Council and its City Mayor.

Full details here...

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE: HOW SALFORD COUNCIL TRIED TO STOP THE STAR

Star date: 16th May 2021

THEY WILL TRY TO DISCREDIT YOU...TO BLOCK YOU, TO SHUT YOU DOWN

We are almost at the final closure of the Salford Star but we write this article as a warning to others who may follow on the pitfalls of founding a genuine publication that aims to give the community a voice and hold public bodies up to account. 

They will try to discredit you, block information and shut you down. In South America they just blow up the offices of journalists that don't play the game. Here they just financially assassinate you...

Full details here...

SALFORD STAR CLOSURE – GUY GRIFFITHS ON THE HUMAN COST OF PATHFINDER DEMOLITIONS

Star date: 16th May 2021

THE HUMAN COST OF REGENERATION

The Griffiths brothers of Higher Broughton are kind of infamous as the only people to be forcefully evicted from their house as part of the Pathfinder 'housing market renewal' project during the first decade of the 21st Century.

Here, Guy Griffiths, now living in 'sunny' north Wales and one of the main inspirations for the Salford Star's creation, writes the second part his own personal view of the Government project that devastated communities throughout Central Salford.

Full details here...

 



written and produced by Salfordians for Salfordians
with attitude and love xxx