Andy Samson - A Widely Respected and Popular Figure
North East Lincolnshire Council has learned with great sadness of the death of Andy Samson, executive director of children’s services.
Councillor Andrew De Freitas, leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “Andy was a fine man who was hugely passionate about children’s services. He personally led a remarkable improvement in children’s services in just over two years. He will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of working with him.”
Councillor Keith Brookes, deputy leader of the council, said: “Andy made not only a huge contribution to the council but to the local community as well. His efforts to ensure children in this area get the best start in life made an enormous impact.”
Andy, who joined the council in January 2006, was a widely respected and popular figure within the council and the local community. An energetic and hugely committed man, his remarkable achievements in transforming children’s services have included an increase in the number of A-C grade GCSEs; an outstanding adoption report; high performance in social care and the successful establishment of the Children’s Trust, among many others.
The council’s chief executive Tony Hunter said: “Andy’s colleagues at the council are devastated by his death. They remember his larger than life personality, his outstanding ability to inspire his own teams and others, his great enthusiasm and passion for children’s services and his caring nature. Our condolences go out to his wife Barbara and their family
November 6th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hi, Mr Bonner, my name’s John Foley and I’m an Ed Psych with St Helens. May I just echo your sentiments regarding the very sad news of Andy Samson’s death and thank you for your kind and accurate comments regarding Andy. Andy was one of a fantastic group of 10 people with whom I trained in Manchester in 1986 and,
even way back then, when he was a relatively very young man, Andy demonstrated a real drive to speak up on behalf of children in order to make their educational lives better, a desire ably supported by his sharp intellect and awareness of how systems worked. However, my strongest memory of Andy (with whom I had lost touch once he had left Tameside) was that he
was one of the funniest people I have ever known, with a dry and clever humour that he was as happy to aim at himself as he was at others: his childhood tales of his antics on the 53 Night Bus to Wythenshawe will forever remain confidential but I am still smiling at them now. Andy had the facility to cut through a mire of psychobabble insightfully and translate it simply into how it might seem to a young person in order to facilitate
effective intervention.
God bless, Andy: “see you later, mush.”
Thanks, Mr Bonner.
John