My husband, Kieron Hatton, who has died aged 72 of cancer, was a radical social worker, community activist and leading academic in social work and social pedagogy, a discipline that emphasises creativity, inclusion and a holistic approach in social work practice.
After graduating with a degree in social policy and administration at Portsmouth Polytechnic, and qualifying as a social worker at Swansea University, Kieron began work in Port Talbot. In 1979, he joined Cardiff Law Centre, a pioneering model of radical community legal work. He became central to the law centre’s ethos: collectivising individual legal problems into campaigns, standing with marginalised communities and resisting injustice through grassroots organising.
Kieron received an MA in policy analysis from the University of Bristol and later completed a PhD at Portsmouth University, integrating academic research with a lifetime of activism. He brought his experience into the classroom, becoming a lecturer in social work at the Open University and then head of the social work centre at Portsmouth, where he taught for 27 years from 1992, followed by five years at Solent University in Southampton (2020-25).
Born in Newport and raised in Merthyr Tydfil, along with his younger sister, Kieron was the son of Raymond Hatton, a further education lecturer, and Shelagh (nee Mcdermott) and he remained proud of his Welsh roots long after leaving Wales, never missing an opportunity to cheer on the national rugby team.
Whilst Kieron was a student at Cyfarthfa grammar school, his father, like many local men, volunteered to dig for bodies after the Aberfan disaster. His witnessing of the grief, and the inadequacy of the state’s response, became a defining political moment for Kieron, leading to a lifelong commitment to socialism and to challenging injustice.
He authored books and articles and regularly presented at conferences on a diverse range of issues, including the involvement of people with experience in social work practice and social pedagogy.
I met Kieron in Cardiff at a meeting for private tenants he had organised. We married in 1991 and had two sons.
Kieron taught others to question, to organise and to care, not in a sentimental sense, but in the practical, unrelenting way that changes the world. He was a loving father to his children – Geraint and Sian, from his marriage in 1972 to Lyn (nee Curtis), which ended in divorce, and our sons, Cal and Ruari. He was also close to the partners of his children.
He is survived by me, his children, and seven grandchildren.
