Bill Simpson was one of the original Trustees when the BALI Chalk Fund (originally known as ‘The Geoffrey Chalk Memorial Award Fund’) was set up in 1981 under the Chairmanship of Jeffrey Bernhard, who was also the Founding Chairman of BALI. Bill has served as a Trustee continually from 1981 until the Autumn of 2020.
Bill was awarded an MBE in 2011 for ‘Services to Horticulture and the Community in Worcestershire’. He is a former Principle of Pershore College, having served as such from 1980 until his retirement in 2002. It is recorded that when he was appointed Principle at Pershore that it was ‘the only Horticultural College in the country’.
Bill is married to Mary and has two grown up children and is a grandfather to six. He still lives in Worcester. In the local community, Bill is a past Church Warden locally and has served as a governor at Red Hill C of E Primary School. He has also served as a Magistrate and was Chairman of the Worcester Branch of the Magistrates Association from 2006 – 2009.
He has also served as a member of the Schools Admission Appeals Panel as well as on the County Council’s Independent Remuneration Panel. He was also, for many years, an RHS Judge.
Chair of Trustees Pete Jennins paid tribute to Bill saying “Bill’s vast experience, keen eye for detail and knowledge of the training and education sector of our industry has been invaluable whilst serving as a Trustee of the BALI Chalk Fund over the years and he will be much missed. We wish him well in the next phase of his ‘retirement’.