My colleague and friend Nigel Mellor, who has died aged 79, was a local government officer for 31 years, from 1969 to 2000; for 25 of those years he was head of the community development and equality unit at Liverpool city council.
Nigel refused to be institutionalised in any way, and much to the dismay of colleagues in the city solicitor’s department, he never wore a suit.
His vision, skill, hard work and creativity nurtured Liverpool’s voluntary sector. He knew the value of fieldwork and never let a desk get in the way of being out and about talking to people all over Liverpool. Under his leadership the council made the most of attracting funds to empower its most disadvantaged residents.
The unit, where I worked with Nigel, became a forerunner in setting up services that were later adopted by other councils: translation and interpreting, community safety teams and anti-poverty efforts. His rapid reaction to the arrival of Somali people fleeing civil war, saw a development team appointed within the council, with the language and specialist skills to support families. This vast array of projects made a real impact.
He spearheaded the development of an architects’ organisation (Comtechsa), owned and controlled by local people, which gave them access to free technical advice to build and refurbish their own community centres.
He worked closely with the Caribbean Centre, the Pakistan Centre, the Somali Women’s Group and Liverpool Citizen Advocacy. It was never standard hours or working days for Nigel.
Nigel’s commitment did not stop with his “retirement” in 2000. He served as chair of the Merseyside Probation Board and, in 2007, became involved with the homelessness charity Emmaus Merseyside. As chair from 2012 until 2020, he helped Emmaus develop new services and attract significant resources. He was made MBE for his services to homeless and disadvantaged people across Merseyside in 2021.
Nigel was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, to Arthur Mellor, a chartered mine surveyor who had been made an OBE at the age of 17 for extraordinary courage during a factory explosion in the first world war, and Gwendoline (nee Moorhouse). He attended Kettering grammar school and studied geography at Durham University.
Nigel’s generosity and camaraderie were greatly valued by his many friends and colleagues. He is survived by his partner, Protasia Torkington, professor emeritus at Liverpool Hope University, by two daughters from a marriage that ended in divorce, and by his brother, Christopher.
