Thank you for taking the time to visit Geoff’s JustGiving  page.

Adored husband, Dad and ‘Gorgrant’, Geoff sadly passed away on Thursday 18th June after a short illness. Due to restrictions as a result of Coronavirus, many family and friends will be unable to attend the funeral and have asked if they could make a charity donation in Geoff’s name. Our chosen charity is the High Tide Foundation, which raises the aspirations of young people to inspire the Teesside of tomorrow and whose aims echo what Geoff believed in and reflected his own career path.

In 1964, at the age of 15, Geoff left school with little in the way of formal qualifications. He had always been interested in mechanics and from about the age of 12 was building and repairing motor bike engines.  The next logical step was to begin a mechanical apprenticeship while studying at Stockton and Billingham Technical College. With a lack of structured learning on the job at the major local garage, he quickly became disillusioned that his role was more that of an errand boy. 

His luck changed, when he began a new apprenticeship as a fitter at Dow Mac Concrete and after serving his time there, he continued to work for them long after he was qualified. Whilst working at Dow Mac, he rented a small garage and in his spare time repaired and serviced all types of motor vehicles and developed his skills as welder and paint sprayer. Testament to his increasing skill base and knowledge, he purchased specialised tools and began to construct broken parts which were difficult to source.

After leaving Dow Mac, Geoff worked for Richard Millar Construction maintaining their fleet of vehicles, before realising his dream of opening his own garage in the early 1980s. Sadly, due to the economic circumstances at the time, he had to close the garage after a few years and then worked at the Port Authority repairing imported cars which had  been slightly damaged in transit for several years. Later he moved to Balfour Beatty Railway division and during this time he qualified as a Health and Safety Officer. After moving and working for OIS, he eventually started his own H & S Consultancy advising companies of new legislation rules in industrial health and safety.  When required, Geoff also designed and drew plans for an extensions to his own home (and there were a few!)  

Geoff was lucky in that he spent his working life doing something that was also his hobby too and he was a truly multi-talented man.  He wore with pride the t-shirt his grandsons bought him which read ‘If Grandad can’t fix it, nobody can’. Over the years he was disappointed to witness the demise of apprenticeships and lack of opportunities for young people who have multi-skills to offer industry. With this in mind, we decided as a family to support the High Tide Foundation in Geoff's memory.

On behalf of Geoff’s Family, thank you.