My father, Harry Harrison, who has died aged 71 of leukaemia, was a social worker dedicated to the profession and the principle of community outreach.
During his 50-year career he worked for Leicestershire, Islington, Hackney and Medway social services, helping numerous children and their families.
He was closely involved in the establishment of Sure Start centres in Medway, work of which he was immensely proud. In the latter part of his career he was an independent child protection trainer across the UK, inspiring a range of professionals and improving their practice.
Born Robert Harrison, in Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire, he grew up in Sileby. Both his parents worked for the railways, his mother, Olive (nee Benson), as a station clerk, and father, Ted, as a station master. After Loughborough College school, Harry worked for the Labour exchange, finding jobs for prisoners and former inmates (1970-73), then became a trainee social worker with Leicestershire social services, qualifying at Middlesbrough Polytechnic (now part of Teesside University) in 1976.
In search of more community-based approaches, Harry joined Islington social services in 1977. He stayed with the north London borough, rising to senior management positions, until 1994. After four years with Hackney, specialising in child protection, he moved to Medway as children’s policy officer.
My father was active in the Labour party throughout his life. In 1983 he helped found the Flag Co-operative Brewery, which ran bars supporting festivals and political causes across London.
He also volunteered with Ocean Youth Club, now Ocean Youth Trust. Through taking teenagers out on tall ships, he discovered a love of sailing, and in late 1988 embarked on a voyage in a small yacht with two friends across the Atlantic.
A month at sea, sailing through heavy storms and days becalmed without seeing another ship on the horizon, was the greatest adventure of his life, and his account of the trip won the BBC Radio 4 Ticket to Write competition in 1989.
Harry met Esme Risner, also a social worker, in Islington. They had two children, Annie and me, and were married in 1998 in Bequia, the Caribbean island where my father had landed on his Atlantic crossing. They settled in Whitstable, Kent. Retiring from Medway in 2008, Harry worked as a consultant and trainer until the end of his life.
His kindness and generosity enriched many friendships over the course of his life – he always had time to chat, especially if you were in the Whitstable micropubs he loved.
He is survived by Esme, Annie and me, a daughter, Samantha, from a previous relationship, and a grandson, Arran.
