Reg Howard was one of those larger than life Salford characters who always spoke his mind and always had a joke to follow. He wasn't frightened of offending anyone in articulating what he believed was right, often commenting on Salford Star articles, or being the focus of those articles.
In 2010, Reg actually stood as an Independent candidate in Pendlebury, determined to give the elderly a voice in the face of cutbacks to services... "When I try to speak to someone at Salford Council they don't want to know" he explained "So I thought 'No-one is going to speak up for me, so I'll do it myself'…The only way I'm going to get my voice heard is to get on the Council." *
He didn't make it onto the Council but if anyone thought they could silence Reg they had another think coming. When the Council began introducing charges for Care On Call, he spoke up again, and not for himself...
"It's other people I'm worried about" he said "In my life, I try to look after the interests of the old and disabled. An extra fiver a week for a sick or disabled person is scandalous. The Council know exactly who they have hit - not everybody, just those who couldn't afford it in the first place!" **
As well as standing as an Independent candidate, Reg also had a spell in the Green Party, before trying to form his own Salford City Party. For politicians, Reg was a formidable figure – but there was also another side to the former Salford youth worker, helping people and not wanting any publicity in return.
When Reg read that Rhys Shaw, a member of Salford Musical Youth, had his guitar and equipment stolen, he was quick to donate funds to replace them, providing there was no publicity, and when Rhys' band Operation Detonation got to the final of a music competition he again helped out with transport costs.
Rhys and his mum, Kim Shaw, who runs Salford Musical Youth, built up a lasting relationship with Reg and today she remembered him with fondness...
"He showed a great interest in our music group and understood what we were trying to achieve" she said "You can't put a price on his kindness – he was a large character with a big heart to match. We visited him regularly and every time he saw us he gave us a joke. He was an inspiration to Rhys, who told me earlier that nothing he could say would be good enough to describe Reg's generosity.
"Reg was very vocal with an old school attitude but he will be sorely missed by a lot of people" she added "He left a legacy in his own way."
Over the past months, Reg has also been a keen supporter of Salford's Death Cafe, which helps people come to terms with terminal illness. He wrote a short article for the Salford Star about the venture, which ended "Death is a reality of life and not the morbid subject that many people think..." ***
Reg faced death as he did life, bravely and without fear.
"I was gutted when I got a call late last night" said friend and former councillor Joe O'Neill "He was an activist and helped a lot of people in his time. Whatever he could do he did. He was a real trooper, a great friend and a great loss to Salford..."
See previous Salford Star articles related to Reg...
*Reg and His Battle Buggy – click here
**Care On Call Cuts Leave Hundreds of Salford's Elderly in Danger – click here
***Salford's Death Cafe Welcomed - click here