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SADLY MISSED: John Schofield
Farewell to champion of town's youth
Jo Rostron26/10/2005
THE shock death of a 'champion of Heywood's young people' left the community in mourning this week.
John Schofield, chairman of Heywood Arts and New Heart for Heywood's young people's activities officer, collapsed after a youth group meeting at the Heady Hill Centre on Thursday night and died later in Fairfield General Hospital.
The 53-year-old was a familiar figure to many in the town as he was also a founder member of Hey Kids and heavily involved with the youth forum and youth bank.
His sudden death came just five days before what would have been the 30th anniversary of his wedding to Margaret, 55, who retired in July after 34 years as a teacher at St Joseph's Primary School.
He leaves two daughters, Victoria, 28, and Charlotte, 24.
John, who was born and bred in Heywood and lived on Ashworth Street, dedicated a huge amount of time to organising events for the town's young people, from theatre workshops to European visits.
Although he spent the majority of his working life in sales, his first passion was always theatre and at the age of 18 he worked professionally for a theatre company in Oldham.
He gave that up for a more stable career path but continued on the amateur circuit and over the years had a number of walk-on television roles, including Heartbeat and Emmerdale as well as a small part in the Granada series Jewel in the Crown.
John helped to found Heywood Arts in 1996 to provide greater opportunities for young people to get involved in the arts and his ambition was that the town should one day have its own theatre.
When the New Deal pilot scheme began he sacrificed his days off from the furniture trade to take up a part-time post - making for a seven-day working week.
Margaret said: "It was like a dream for him when he got the job permanently. It involved so many of the things he gave up his own time to do anyway.
"For Heywood Arts he put in endless hours trying to find sources of funding, he was forever picking up leaflets or scouring teletext for information.
"He just wanted the young people of this area to have the opportunity to try different things and visit different places.
"John was very caring and would have done anything for anyone."
Tributes to John, who was also heavily involved with the Curtain Theatre in Rochdale where he directed and performed in many plays, poured in to the Advertiser and his family has received more than 150 cards in his memory.
New Deal chairman David Rothwell, who worked closely with John, said that his contribution in helping the town's young people was immense and would be sorely missed.
He added: "John always believed that every young person had the potential to achieve and he worked tirelessly to ensure that this potential was realised.
"He gained the respect of young people by believing in them and championing their causes."
Chief executive of NDC, Vicki Devonport, said: "John was well known for his positive outlook - it was always a pleasure to deal with him about work or just have a chat.
"He never had an ill word to say about anybody and was always so cheerful and positive about things. We will all miss him greatly."
One of John's greatest legacies is Hey Kids - he was a founder member of the group in 1990 and has remained involved ever since, sitting on the executive committee of Heywood Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society.
He was also a driving force behind Heywood's now well-established European links and organised the first exchange trip between Hey Kids and a group of Polish children three years ago.
Michele Simpson, secretary of Heywood Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, said: "There wasn't anyone who didn't know John, he was so involved with everything.
"I think he packed more into his 53 years than most people manage in a lifetime and has done an awful lot for Heywood."
A post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish the cause of John's death this week and his funeral will take place at St Joseph's Church next Wednesday.
Kayleigh flies in to say thank you
ONE teenager who knows only too well the value of John Schofield's work is 18-year-old Kayleigh O'Hara.
Through his role at the New Deal, John arranged a once in a lifetime exchange trip to Austria for the former Siddal Moor pupil. In September Kayleigh, from Bay Street, Back o' th' Moss, began a 10-month work placement with the Jugendverein Tarsdofer youth group in Salzburg.
Her mum Tracy O'Hara said that John could not have done more to help her daughter.
She said: "He put in so much effort to arrange everything for Kayleigh - he did all the running around to sort everything out. You have to have such dedication to do the things he did."
Tracy said news of John's shock death had left Kayleigh devastated, adding: "She was distraught when she heard and will be coming back for his funeral. She feels she needs to pay her respects and say thank you for everything he did.
"Kayleigh thought the world of him and is determined to finish her placement in his memory."
John forged such strong links with his counterparts in Austria that one of the youth workers will also be making the trip to Heywood to attend his funeral. He had been in talks about arranging placements to provide the same opportunity to other young people.
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Thanks John for the wonderful time we were able to spend together.
Ernst
30/10/2005 at 17:38