Stewart Simpson obituary

My friend Stewart Simpson, who has died aged 85, spent two decades as the head of the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People (CACDP, now Signature), promoting the use of sign language and better communication between deaf and hearing people.

Born in Penrith in Cumbria to Andrew Simpson, who worked on the railways, and his wife, Myra (nee Craghill), a teacher of commercial studies, Stewart grew up in Wigan, Lancashire. After leaving Wigan Technical College school, he returned to Cumbria and then worked as a clerk at various branches of the Midland Bank, interrupted by two years’ national service in the RAF. In 1966, after graduation from Durham University, he completed a master’s in social administration at the London School of Economics. He then went on to teach social policy and economics at Carlisle Technical College, before lecturing in social policy at Moray House School of Education and Sport at Edinburgh University.

From there he moved to the Communication Skills Project, an initiative in Carlisle that was government funded and administered by British Deaf Association. The project had been running for some time when Stewart became involved, but he went on to become its director in 1979, and in 1981 the project became an organisation, the CACDP, which issues sign language qualifications and promotes other ways of communicating between deaf and hearing people.

Stewart headed the CACDP for 20 years and was appointed OBE for his work in 1999. In retirement he was energetic to the end. At the age of 67 he completed the London Marathon and in subsequent years ran a number of half-marathons, climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, walked the Machu Picchu trail in Peru, and visited Timbuktu in Mali. Ever the gentleman, he was a good listener to family, friends and colleagues and will be missed for his wise counsel and good humour.

He is survived by his wife, Val (nee Little), whom he had met in 1960 at a dance in Carlisle and married in 1964, two daughters, Nicola and Elizabeth, two granddaughters and two great grandchildren.