Father Noel helps police stay on song
FORMER STRANGEWAYS CHAPLAIN STILL VOLUNTEERING AT AGE OF 89
NOEL Proctor is a very popular man with his local police force.
His arrival at Bury police station means that a chat, a song and a chocolate biscuit are not far away.
At the age of 89, Father Noel is a voluntary chaplain, giving officers someone to talk to when things are getting tough. He has made a career out of helping people. Noel was born in Belfast in 1930 and dedicated the early parts of his life to training with Ireland’s Church Army.
He went on to become a prison chaplain, offering support and advice to some of society’s most troubled souls. The job took him around England’s prisons, from Wandsworth to Dartmoor, before settling as the senior chaplain at Strangeways.
He spent 25 years supporting the prison service and even stayed in his chapel throughout the notorious Strangeways riot in 1990
– for which he received an MBE.
He retired in 1995 and took on a voluntary role as a chaplain, first at North Manchester General Hospital, and more recently with Greater Manchester Police in Bury and Whitefield.
Noel said: “I did 25 years in prison, I started in 1970 and finished in 1995. I was even at Strangeways during the time of the prison riot. I feel that many lives were touched and changed by what we did. Many of them are still going on today to lead good and decent lives. That’s what it was all about.”
Noel’s trips to see the police have become less common in recent years because of a battle with cancer, but the officers still love to see him.
Pc Paul Grange said: “He always has a song and stops to chat to each and every one when he visits the station, and always brings with him a large and seemingly bottomless bag of chocolate biscuits. Although clearly having health issues himself, his cheer never diminishes and everyone misses him not being around.”
Noel said: “When I finished at the hospital I wrote them a letter saying I didn’t want the staff there to be lifting me up off the ground and putting me in a bed so I had to stop. I have loved being involved with the police even if, after all that time with the prison service, it felt like joining the opposition.”
Noel’s wife Beryl, a former firefighter, is also a chaplain and regularly visits fire stations in Whitefield, Ramsbottom and Bury to help out. She says having the support of the police has helped her husband deal with his illness. She added: “Since he’s been unwell, the police have always been there for Noel. They have always been there for him because he’s always been there for them.”
Both Beryl and Noel had been widowed, but they found each other and in 2005, aged 65 and 74, decided to tie the knot.
Beryl, 80, said of her volunteering: “There are times when people just want someone to talk to. Very often they just need that.”