Prolific volunteer from Newport set to be made a freeman

Those are the words of David Gill, who is set to be made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Telford & Wrekin Council.

Officially called John, but known to all as David, he is being given the recognition after years of voluntary work throughout the borough.

Currently he is lead governor of South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Trust and has been a public governors member for seven years, he has been a director and trustee of CHEC in Madeley for 19 years and chairman of the Park Lane Centre in Woodside for 11 years.

He is a trustee of the Stay homelessness charity in Telford and is also chairman of Telford Mental Health Forum and is a member of Telford Crisis Network.

He has previously been a chairman and trustee of Telford Crisis Support of Mediation Works, Wrekin District Councillor for Newport West and Deputy Mayor of Newport Town Council, trustee of the former Young People's Support Scheme, a member of Newport Sportshall Committee on both the first and second committees spanning some 15 years,deputy president of the former Newport Rotaract and former member of Newport Rotary, was a former member of Cosy Hall management group, Newport and is a former member of Burton Borough music studios management committee.

He has also been involved with Donnington Wood Liefelong Learning Centre, the former Progress House in Stirchley, the former Equal Project in Regent Street and the former Learning Point at Telford Library

Mr Gill, who lives in Newport, began his working life as a teacher.

He said: "If you had told me when I started at Burton Borough as a woodwork teacher that this is where I would never have believed you."

But it was actually through his role at the school, that his voluntary work began.

He said: "My family are similar people, they moved to a village in North Wales and were the only English speaking people in the village.

"They were trying to run a cafe and a grocers shop not long after the end of the second world war and the way to become part of the community was to get involved, help out, join the brass band, go to chapel three times on a Sunday.

"Also if they had a bruised apple or a soft tomato, when they were doing the orders for the poorer families, they would throw a few in."

When he joined Burton Borough in 1977, he inherited two community learning classes, which he said he enjoyed, which sparked a life-long passion to help older learners.

From here, he was able to make a move to Telford College of Arts and Technology in 1989, helping with adult learning until he took voluntary redundancy in 2014, finishing as assistant principal.

During his time there he travelled all over the world helping out with projects in places like Monserrat where he visited in 1990 as part of a project to rebuild schools affected by Hurricane Hugo.

He said: "I have a comfortable life, I have the time, why shouldn't I do something to help people who are less fortunate for me.

"I like to think, if I help people, those people will go on to someone else. It is like throwing a stone into the pond, it creates ripples and sometimes those ripples come back in the form of recognition like this.

"And it feels incredibly special because it isn't at all why I do it and I just don't expect it."

To become a honorary freeman, a person must be nominated and have support from two thirds of the council. Mr Gill said: "I understand that was unanimous, but that is just what I have been told.

"Again, it is such an honour, because it isn't why I do it."

Mr Gill, lives with wife Jane, who works at Halesowen College.

He has two sons, Nicholas, who lives in Cardiff with his wife and three daughters and is a trainee priest at Llandaff and also Robert, who is engaged to fiancee Becky, also lives in Newport and runs a landscape gardening company.

He said: "I'm a committed Christian and to me, that is more than putting on my smart casuals on a Sunday.

"If someone's life can be improved, we're all on this journey, we're all going on the same direction, it is nice to be able to do something to help out."