NORTHFIELD TRADE UNIONIST HONOURED BY GMB UNION AT ANNUAL CONGRESS IN BLACKPOOL

It is working people just like Cathy Murphy who give their time and attention to solving the problems of working people and expect nothing in return says GMB Congress.

Northfield Trade Unionist Neil Clowes was today awarded the GMB Outstanding Achievement award for his dedication to GMB trade union at the GMB Annual Congress in Blackpool. The award was presented by GMB National President.

Neil Clowes works as a Leisure Centre Manager for Birmingham City Council and is a GMB activist and a Health & Safety Rep. During the course of his employment he saved the life of a young boy who got into difficulties in the swimming pool giving him CPR and literally bringing him back to life as he had stopped breathing. (See notes below)

Neil has also been a Territorial Army Soldier since 1990, and is an NCO and Physical Training Instructor with a (Fusilier) Company of the 4^th Battalion, the Mercian Regiment based in Sheldon, Birmingham.

Joe Morgan, GMB Regional Secretary said, “It was with enormous pleasure that the GMB Birmingham & West Midlands region put forward Neil Clowes for this GMB achievement award and even great pleasure to be able to present him with the winners award for his outstanding work and contribution to the Labour Movement. It is working people just like Neil Clowes who give their time and attention to solving the problems of working people and expect nothing in return. Well GMB it saying thanks you on behalf of all those people who have been helped by Neil Clowes today.”

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Contact: Joe Morgan, GMB Regional Secretary on 07968 064465 or GMB Press Office: Rose Conroy on 07974 258123 or Steve Pryle on 07921 2898880. Photographs are available from Andrew Wiard on 07973 219201 or andrew@reportphotos.com

Media credentials for access to GMB Congress are available from Charlotte Gregory on 07918 941937.

Notes to Editors

1.       Neil explains the events that took place that day and the courage he had and quick thinking 

”The crisis developed quickly and with little warning, I was the Duty Manager and there were something like 200 people in and around the pool. The Duty Lifeguard noticed the Child who had waded from the shallow to the deep area and was lying motionless at the bottom. The Lifeguard rescued the Child from the Pool and activated the alarm, I rushed to the scene. The initial moments were pandemonium”

"I just went on to autopilot, as my training kicked in. I realised it was an extremely, serious situation and I knew I had to get control of the crowd and delegate responsibilities to my staff while I worked on the boy. It was like everything was in slow motion, I was issuing orders to the staff to control the crowd, get an ambulance and close the pool, while I put the child down on the pool deck and went right into compressions because he was blue and had stopped breathing".

”I was concentrating on the child, working on him, when finally he started coughing and I could work on stabilising him. The Birmingham Air Ambulance landed on the Golf Course of Cox Moor Leisure Centre and I supervised the transition from the Leisure Centre to the Helicopter.”