I & C Academy celebrate Chris Stocks library legacy

Hamilton Davies Trust’s Chair Neil McArthur proudly attended the official launch celebration of the Chris Stocks library at Irlam & Cadishead Academy in November 2024, along with Tony Prescott (HDT) and Chris’s wife Ruth Stocks, who officially opened the library.

Thanks to the Chris Stocks fund, managed by HDT, this wonderful dedicated library space can now be enjoyed by students for both reading and studying. Previously the school library was an open-plan area, which wasn’t always ideal for the students. Now, the new space offers a calm and inspiring environment, giving students the opportunity to learn and grow in the best possible setting.

Chris Stocks, a much-loved local businessman, colleague and friend of Neil, set up the Chris Stocks fund with his wife in 2014 before sadly passing away in March 2015 aged 53. The fund was dedicated to financially supporting young people in Irlam and Cadishead who wished to start their careers via an apprenticeship, vocational training, or in a self-employed capacity, and it set many young people on that pathway by funding practical based courses or equipment and tools needed to progress with their chosen profession.

Chris himself left school to become an apprentice. He worked in the Irlam area for more than 30 years, first with Thurnall Engineering, then Opal Telecom and ultimately Talk Talk, where he rose to strategic director.

Ruth Stocks said: “Unfortunately, Chris’s life was cut short by cancer before he had the chance to leave the kind of mark on the world that he would have wanted. He saw the fund as his legacy. He was passionate about helping young people and felt a strong connection with the Irlam and Cadishead area and wanted to support the Hamilton Davies Trust. Chris wanted school leavers to know that you don’t need an academic background to be successful. So we set up the fund to help those who wished to start their careers via an apprenticeship, or in a self-employed  capacity, to get a foot on the career ladder.”

The remainder of the Chris Stocks fund was used towards the library project to enable the Academy’s current and future students to thrive. The staff and students extended their deepest gratitude to everyone involved in making this library a lasting gift for future generations.

Whilst the Chris Stocks fund is now closed, Chris’s legacy lives on through the library facility and the many other projects and young people the fund has supported over the past ten years.

Posted on: 13th November 2024