Chris Haydon, who has died aged 79, devoted much of his life to social work and was an active member of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), becoming national chair for a year in 1985.
He was elected to this post at the same time as I became BASW’s chief executive. Chris helped me establish myself with great generosity.
The association faced several big challenges during this period, including the need to take significant decisions about the future of its publishing business. In 1987 Chris was deeply involved in the move to sell a half-share in BASW’s flagship weekly magazine, Social Work Today, to Macmillan magazines, which provided a substantial capital sum for the association and helped to secure its financial future.
The son of Doris and Gerald Haydon, Chris was born in Nottingham, where his father worked in finance for Player’s, the cigarette factory that was one of the city’s biggest employers. He went to Alfreton secondary modern, then did his national service with the Grenadier Guards from 1958 to 1960.
He had various jobs in sales, market research and accounts before qualifying as a social worker at Nottingham University in 1971. After working as a child care officer, then social worker in Mansfield, for Nottinghamshire county council, he became a senior social worker in Nottingham. It was a challenging time when there were few qualified social workers, yet Chris, reliable, calm, thoughtful and trustworthy, was well able to support the many inexperienced social workers he worked with.
After a period as an area manager for Bedfordshire county council, in 1979 he became lead worker at North Beds Christian Family Care, a charity providing women’s refuges and other services. He then moved to the Children’s Society in Luton as regional (1988), then divisional (1993), director.
His first marriage, to Janet, ended in divorce in 1972. In 1974 he married Annette George (nee Grimes), a social work assistant. The couple suffered the death of three children in infancy due to an inherited genetic condition but Chris turned these tragedies to the benefit of others, playing a leading role in Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity. He was also a trustee for Climb, now Metabolic Support UK, and a volunteer with Advocacy Alliance.
In his leisure time he was a creative photographer and a skilled cook who loved food more than exercise. A good colleague and friend, with a profound Christian commitment, he was a man of honesty and integrity, a true gentleman.
Chris is survived by Annette and their two children, Matthew and Rhiannon, and by the two children, Peter and Elizabeth, from his first marriage.
