My dad, Richard Gibbs, who has died aged 73, was a dedicated rural development officer working primarily with communities in Derbyshire. In 2007 he won the “unsung hero” award from North East Derbyshire district council for securing large grants from the European Union to fund the economic regeneration of Derbyshire’s coalfields.
Born in Harrow, which was then in Middlesex, the son of Peggy (nee Shaw), a sports teacher, and Frank Gibbs, an RAC clerk, Richard soon moved with his family to Seaford, in East Sussex, on the south coast. He attended Ardingly college, spending much of his time playing hockey, football and cricket. The South Downs and Channel gales seeped into his soul, and he became a keen walker and sailor.
