YOUTH worker and dedicated Chippenham man Rob Catt passed away in Bath RUH aged 85 after suffering with cancer.

Rob was well known for his decades of service as a youth worker and over 25 years spent at Chippenham’s Bridge Centre, where he ran 40 youth groups for teenagers and children.

The well known personality was also a broadcaster and charity volunteer who was a member of Chippenham Rotary, Chippenham Probus and even took his passion for youth work to Hollywood to write for a youth magazine in America.

Born on October 9 1933 and brought up in Hastings, East Sussex, Rob left school and had a variety of jobs including as a dental mechanic making false teeth and men’s tailor.

Rob was also among the last to do national service which he did in the Royal Air Force and during all his roles continued as a voluntary youth worker.

He soon realised that his talent was with working alongside and helping young people.

At the beginning of the sixties he opened his own youth centre in Kingston. Reflecting on his own ability with children he once said: “I discovered I had a talent for it. I enjoyed myself doing it with them as opposed to for them which is an important difference.

“Youth work is not about discos or ping pong. It’s about encouraging and developing and the most pressing requirement is to take young people seriously.”

He later moved to Chippenham where he took on Chippenham’s Bridge Centre. When he moved into the Bridge Centre in the 1960s it was used by seven organisations and the youth club met twice a week.

By the time he left there were 35 regular youth organisations and the youth club met six or seven times a week.

Upon retiring he continued many voluntary roles including regular broadcasting spots at Chippenham hospital radio and BBC Wiltshire Sounds.

Another of his roles was letting off the fireworks in the park on carnival day.

In 2016 he received a civic award from mayor Terry Gibson for his volunteering work.

His funeral is at West Wiltshire Crematorium, Semington on Thursday August 15 at 4pm. His family requests donations to Dorothy House Hospice Care in Rob’s memory in lieu of flowers please.