Summer 2019John Kay - Man of Rochdale

Current ‘Man of Rochdale’, John Kay, was born and bred in the borough, and has lived in Littleborough all his life.

His father, Frederick William Kay, was a senior partner at Molesworths solicitors with John as his articled clerk – yesterday’s version of an apprentice.

One year into his training at the then Littleborough business, John took over the running of Molesworths at just 18 years old, when his father died.

Between 1985 and 2006, he continued his father’s legacy as a senior partner at thecurrent Molesworths Bright Clegg in Rochdale town centre before stepping aside to become a commercial consultant; still providing local businesses and individuals with legal support.

John has raised thousands of pounds for various causes over the years and had an incredible input to a variety of organisations and groups within the borough. Believing in Rotary’s motto of ‘Service Above Self’, John says the Rotary Club of Rochdale was his starting point with charity work 30 years ago.

In 2012, John was presented with Rotary’s highest award, the ‘Paul Harris Fellowship’, at a surprise ceremony, for his outstanding service to the club and community.

Recently, John has been running a pop-up art exhibition with local artist Geoff Butterworth in the Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre, where Geoff gives 20% of his earnings to Rotary’s chosen charities.

A prominent member of the Littleborough community, John is the treasurer of Littleborough Civic Trust and is involved with Littleborough Canalside Development Group, Littleborough Coach House Trust and Littleborough Events and Association Forum (LEAF) to promote local places and ‘always has the best interests of the village at heart’.

John has served on the Mayor’s Charity Committee for over ten years and has been asked to chair the committee this year for a second time by the new Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Billy Sheerin.

He is also an active fund-raising member for the Rochdale branch of the NSPCC, organising events such as the Ladies Ascot Day at Nutters Restaurant, and was chairman of the NSPCC Rochdale & Oldham Business Group.

John was one of the founders of RochdaleConnections Trust (RCT) 20 years ago, which he, along with magistrates, started when they found there were young people in Rochdale who didn’t have a school to attend as they had dropped off the registers.

RCT trained volunteers to mentor young, disaffected individuals and matched them with youngsters; magistrates played their part by ordering many young people in court to attend the trust.

John said: “I had a particular wish that we should help the families, as opposed to just helping the children who get into trouble. I was involved with the local NSPCC through my wife, Elisabeth, and I put forward a motion at the national conference of the NSPCC that they should spend more time helping families and not just individuals. It received a great amount of support and now the NSPCC is helping families, along with RCT.”

John was named as the 25th Man of Rochdale at Rochdale Town Hall. On receiving the accolade, John said: “It is so rewarding to know that people voted for me. I hope I can live up to what people expect of me. I am delighted to be able to put back into Rochdale what Rochdale gives to me. I like to put back into society what I have got out of it. I am so glad and appreciative that this year was my time.”