Memories of Mike
NEWS LEGEND MIKE NEVILLE’S GRANDSONS RUN IN HIS MEMORY
TO Josh Warriner and his brother and sisters, he was their loving grandpa and their “best friend”.
For everyone else, Mike Neville was a North East TV legend who earned an MBE for his services to broadcasting.
The charismatic news anchor died last September at the age of 80 following a battle with cancer.
Now, on the first anniversary of Mike’s death, grandson Josh has paid an emotional tribute to his grandpa and spoken of the family’s ongoing heartbreak – and his decision to honour a legend.
Josh said: “I’ve not been looking forward to the anniversary because I still struggle to sleep and have been quite demotivated.
“If I was to sit down and have a frank and honest conversation about it, I would most likely break down.
“No-one says the pain gets easier, you learn to live with it. It has pulled us all together and made the family closer as a whole.
“Everyone is coping in their own kind of unique way, and everyone does that in their own time and through their own private conversations.
“As clichéd as it is, everyone over the last year has been really supportive. My biggest struggle when he did pass was I could not come to terms with the fact that to me he was immortal, he was Grandpa. “It was almost like losing my best friend.” Growing up in Willington Quay, North Tyneside, Mike forged his reputation on stints with the BBC and ITV as the professional anchorman with a theatrical touch. Josh recalls growing up and visiting Mike and grandma Pam’s house every day after school – and waving at his grandpa on TV. Ikea worker Josh, now 23, added: “I have memories of him having the same briefcase and getting ready in a suit and leaving about 4.30pm.
“About an hour later we would be waving at him on TV. Being so young, it never really registered that no-one else’s grandad did that.
“Getting older, my friends at secondary school would bring it up and ask what it was like.
“He was the most laid-back person you could ever meet in your life – I think that’s where I get it from.
“He didn’t have a bad bone in his body, you could go and tell him anything and he would sit and listen and help. Nothing would faze him, he was so happy and had so many stories to tell.
“We got a lot of condolences after his death and a lot from work, and it was weird because I never thought about him as being famous.
He didn’t have a bad bone in his body, you could go and tell him anything and he would sit and listen and help
“To me, he was Grandpa.” Mike died on September 6 last year. Four days later, Great North Run organisers held a minute’s silence in his memory.
The world’s most popular halfmarathon paid tribute to the event’s first ever starter back in 1981, when 12,000 runners made the journey to South Shields.
Josh and his older brother Jordan, 29, are now lacing up their running shoes to pay their own tributes to their beloved grandpa. Fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support – a charity close to Mike’s heart – Josh is preparing for his first ever competitive run. He added: “The run has been the only thing that has given me strength to get myself out of bed every day. “I had always said I would really like to do it, but I never felt I had the motivation to do it.
“It was in conversation with my mum where I mentioned I was thinking about doing the run. She said he always donated to Macmillan and was a big believer in supporting them.
“Jordan is a far more experienced runner than I am, but we’re planning to finish over the line together.”
To read more about Josh’s story and donate, visit www.justgiving. com/fundraising/josh-warriner.