FORMER Whitchurch schoolboy Professor Sir George Castledine has been awarded a medal from The British Geriatics Society for his work in relieving the suffering of people in older age.
Sir George who now lives in Cleobury Mortimer, said he was delighted to receive the award and that it highlighed the work being done for the elderly.
Sir George, 63, who lives in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, become only the second male nurse to ever receive a knighthood in 2007 - and Whitchurch’s only second son to receive the honour, the first being composer Sir Edward German.
He was knighted in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the advancement of the science and art of nursing.
Of that honour he said: “I was so shocked to received it, I couldn’t believe it had been given to a nurse, nurses have such a lot of criticism and we are fighting to get standards up to what they should be. It was good for nursing.”
Sir George was inspired to go into nursing by his mother Rebecca Geraldine Castledine who received an MBE for services to nursing in Whitchurch over many years.
Sir George said: “My mum was a senior ward sister at Deermoss Hospital. She got me into nursing because at a very young age she sat me down by some of the older patients on her wards and encouraged me to communicate and interact with them.
“This experience stayed with me all my life and now when I look back following the BGS medal it makes me realise what a valuable influence this was on my career.”
He said he is delighted that it is now easier for men to go into nursing, and that things have changed so much since he began in the mid 60s.
George Castledine was born in Leicester as his mother worked in hospitals there, in 1946.
He was brought up in Whitchurch and attended the Infant’s School which was then in Bargates, just up the road from where the family lived at the Croft by the roundabout.
He then went to Whitchurch Junior School and Whitchurch Secondary Modern School where headmaster Hinsley Dodd made him head boy.
He was good at science and art at school, and enjoyed acting, in which he was inspired by his teacher Mr Williams, and he also did some amateur acting for Miss Sherman’s drama group.
He was a wolf cub, then became a scout and reached the level of Queens Scout which he received from the Chief Scout in Manchester Town Hall.
Sir George also played a lot of minor football and then took up rugby with the Whitchurch Club.
He also represented Shropshire at schools rugby under 19 and at senior level.
He seemed always destined to go into nursing. “My parents were always doing charity work in some form and also encouraged me to visit a little old lady who had Parkinson’s disease. Her name was Mrs Ridgeway and she ran the old sweet shop at the top of the High Street for a while when I was a young lad.
“I visited her every Friday on my way home from school for many years. It taught me a lot about communication and emotional intelligence,” he said.
His father was an engineer and worked for a firm in Prees, then became a lecturer at Stoke-on-Trent Polytechnic. His brother John, who still lives in Whitchurch, followed his father into engineering.
Sir George added: “I had some great friends in Whitchurch. There was Alan Radcliff the gardener, David Corfield the milkman, John Wojda the local jeweller whose dad took us flying and encouraged us to play in a group at Sleap Aerodrome."
After Whitchurch Secondary Modern School he went to Shrewsbury Technical College to do O and A levels.
He went into nurse training at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary Stoke-on-Trent.
“There were very few hospitals who took male nurses, and I was only one of two in the whole year. It was a great training though and set me up with my State Registration Certificate. The matron encouraged me to apply for a scholarship to go to Oxford as the profession was trying to get more graduates into nursing and set up a degree level course.
“I went to Oxford and did psychology, physiology and philosophy. I gained a special post grad certificate in social studies with a practical work endorsement which encouraged me to pursue more studies at the University of Liverpool.
“Liverpool gave me the experience and qualifications in public and social care I needed and wanted to become more effective in nursing generally.”
He then moved to Manchester where he gained experience as a ward sister/charge nurse to help develop the new and innovative department of nursing.
He worked at Manchester Royal Infirmary on several wards as a charge nurse and eventually became a clinical lecturer which combines teaching and clinical practice.
He opened the first ever geriatric assessment ward which became a professorial nursing unit where lots of new nursing initiatives were carried out.
Sir George then gained a higher degree in research and was awarded a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing - the youngest nurse to do so.
After 14 years he moved on and set up higher education and research in nursing in North Wales. The centre was linked to the Medical School in Cardiff and to the Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham. This is now known as Glyndwr University and he was recently made a Fellow.
From Wales he went to Birmingham, to the University of Central England, now Birmingham City University, where he was appointed head of nursing and given a personal Chair in recognition of his nursing work.
There he was responsible for developing higher education and research in nursing and the university now has one of the largest centres of nursing in the country. This also included developing the School of Defence Nursing, which includes all the three services.
“While in Birmingham I have been a joint appointment between the Dudley Group Of Hospitals and the University as clinical professor taking on Matron and consultant roles,” he explained.
“At present I work at The Institute of Ageing and Health as the chief exec. The institute promotes the study and practice of health ageing. We have a special drop in clinic and activities for older people who are lonely and isolated.
“Care of older people has always been a passion of mine through out my career and I now feel I am in a situation to help further this cause.”
He also works for several world health charities which takes him to some difficult and needy parts of Africa, the South Bank (Palestine) and the Middle East including Afghanistan.
He is married with three children, a son who is an accountant in London, a daughter who works for the NHS as a psychologist and his second daughter is currently studying for A levels.