Editor Chris Hatton pays tribute to Jim Worsdale, former Echo editor and celebrates his immense contribution to life in south Essex

THERE are few people in life whose impact and contribution leave an indelible impression.

For those of us who knew former Echo editor, Jim Worsdale, they will be reflecting on this sentiment following his death at the age of 86.

Any journalists who knew Jim will feel privileged and honoured to have learned from a man who genuinely believed in the power of local newspapers as a force for good.

Combined with his love for Southend, he was a vocal campaigner and a passionate advocate for the town.

He was not afraid to challenge, chastise and criticise those in power or hold them to account for their decisions.

When Jim spoke, they listened because he had credibility, strength and determination to do the right thing for his readers.

This vigour was never needed more than in 1987 when thousands of people joined the campaign to save Southend’s cancer unit, which was supported by Jim and the Echo.

This was the first time I met Jim.

As a fresh-faced 11-year-old - a pupil at Belfairs High School in Leigh - I heard him speak with passion and clarity at a rally in Southend High Street.

Flanked by MPs Teddy Taylor and Paul Channon, he spoke for us – the people who would lose out if the unit closed.

His words inspired me – and many others - to get involved with the campaign and my school delivered a Christmas card to Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street, pleading with her to save our cancer unit.

Jim was there, supporting us.

Of course, the campaign was successful and Jim’s part in saving this essential service can never be underestimated.

Writing in 2015, Jim remembered: “Day after day, week after week there were mass public gatherings, letters and forms in this newspaper’s pages and the most moving of interviews with cancer patients and their partners and families.

“And then, unexpectedly, a statement was released to the Echo from then Minister of Health, John Moore.

“It said: ‘In the light of the views expressed, we are not prepared to agree to the closure of the Southend radiotherapy unit’.

“These words were read out to a packed gathering of Echo staff. Amid the applause and the deafening cheers, there were tears, too.

“Mass gatherings took place in the days immediately after the triumph for local democracy.

“Many are no longer with us, these years after the incredible triumph, yet many remain to recall that incredible chapter in local history’.”

A triumph it was. This part of Jim’s legacy will live on.

But it was one of many campaigns over the years which had lasting impact.

As Echo editor, he was a leading light in the campaign for Southend Hospital’s first MRI scanner, for example, with former mayor Ernie Lockhart.

How many lives have been saved as a result of the cancer unit campaign and the MRI fundraiser?

All these campaigns sealed Jim’s reputation as a fine newspaper editor.

But as a journalist and writer, his credentials were also outstanding.

He had a razor-sharp news sense and a nose for a great story.

I remember meeting Jim at a Southend Council meeting in 1998.

He was working on a rival weekly title to the Echo and his contacts and knowledge often trumped us young reporters.

But on one occasion, I got the upper hand.

We went into a council meeting and I had been told that Tesco Metro Stores had bought the old Keddies building in Southend High Street.

It was a big story at the time.

I could not believe my luck when Jim had a chat with a councillor as the Keddies story was briefly mentioned.

For once, he didn’t pick up on it.

I had the splash on the Echo the next day.

He rang me and said: “Well done my boy, I let you have that one.”

I never really worked out if he missed the story or whether he was just being kind.

No doubt he was just being kind.

In more recent years, Jim was a respected columnist for the Echo using his wise words to keep our politicians in check.

In 2000, the council he had held to account for years granted Jim the honour of being made an honorary freeman of the borough for his outstanding contribution.

Jim could often be found at civic events, also supporting our mayors in their fundraising efforts.

I know how proud he was to be honoured by the town he loved so much.

Jim’s contribution will never be forgotten.

And while the regional newspaper industry has changed immeasurably since Jim’s retirement, the spirit of what Jim sought to achieve is still alive. Jim’s legacy will live on.

For those who had the privilege of knowing Jim, it is certainly the end of an era but many will remain inspired by his wisdom, energy and determination.

Jim began his career at the Southend Standard in 1948 as a proof reader’s assistant and general messenger boy in the offices and print works.

With a determination to become a journalist, Jim learned shorthand and typing at night school and soon became a trainee reporter on the paper in 1949.

Jim left the Standard in the late Fifties and returned to the paper as editor around 20 years later.

The highly respected journalist was married to Beryl, and together they had sons Alan and Paul, grandchildren Emma, Katie, Adam and Amy, and great grandchildren Mary and Molly.