George Peter Michael Varah (19 October 1944 – 2 April 2007) was a British international

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

and later a Chief Probation Officer.

Biography

Varah was eldest of

triplet A triplet is a set of three items, which may be in a specific order, or unordered. It may refer to: Science * A series of three nucleotide bases forming an element of the Genetic code * J-coupling as part of Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrosc ...

boys born in the

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

Holy Trinity, Blackburn Holy Trinity Church is in Mount Pleasant, Blackburn, Lancashire, England. It is a former Anglican parish church which is now Redundant church, redundant and under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is recorded in the National Herit ...

to Dr

Chad Varah Edward Chad Varah (12 November 1911 – 8 November 2007) was a British Anglican priest and social activist from England. In 1953, he founded the Samaritans, the world's first crisis hotline, to provide telephone support to those contemplati ...

and his wife Susan. His father was the local Anglican vicar, who founded the Samaritans charity in 1953. His mother later became world president of the

Mothers' Union The Mothers' Union is an international Christian charity that seeks to support families worldwide. Its members are not all mothers or even all women, as there are many parents, men, widows, singles and grandparents involved in its work. Its main ai ...

in the 1970s. Varah was educated at Raine's Foundation Grammar School for Boys in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

and at

Loughborough College Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications. List of princi ...

. He was an excellent

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, and captain of the Loughborough College athletics team. He became a member of the

Great Britain athletics team Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

in 1965, and ran the second leg in a

4 x 800m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...

that broke the world record at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in 1966. He competed for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth Para ...

in Kingston, Jamaica and the

1967 Summer Universiade The 1967 Summer Universiade, also known as the V Summer Universiade, took place in Tokyo, Japan. Eastern Bloc countries including Soviet Union, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Cuba, Czechoslovakia and North Korea boycotted the Games due to th ...

(the

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

World Student Games). At one point, he held the British Indoor Athletics record at

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

. He became Master in Charge of Athletics at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

in 1968. He also worked as a volunteer tutor at

Onley Borstal Onley may refer to: * Onley, Virginia, a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States * Onley (lost settlement), a lost village in Northamptonshire, England * Onley (HM Prison), a Category C men's prison in Warwickshire, England See also ...

. After post-graduate study at

Leicester University , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

, he joined the Warwickshire

Probation Service Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

in 1973. He worked as a basic-grade

Probation Officer A probation and parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most proba ...

, then ran

Community Service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always perform ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, and then became assistant chief of the West Midlands Probation Service. He became

Chief Probation Officer Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

in Surrey in 1988. His rise from the lowest grade of Probation Officer to Chief Probation Officer was the fastest in the history of the Probation Service. He was the longest-serving Chief Officer in the

National Probation Service The Probation Service (formerly the National Probation Service) for England and Wales is a statutory criminal justice service, mainly responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to the criminal cour ...

when he retired in 2004, having spent 35 years working in the criminal justice system. He also worked for many charities. He and a friend, Jim Higgins (also a probation officer), founded the Rugby Mayday Trust in Warwickshire. He also founded the independent

Surrey Springboard Trust Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. W ...

. He became chairman of

Crimestoppers Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency telephone number sys ...

in 2004. He was a trustee of Samaritans, and of

Victim Support Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime. Activities ;Support for victims of crime: Trained volunteers and employees offer free and ...

. He also served on

employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, ...

s from 2005. He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey, and had been nominated to serve as High Sheriff of Surrey in 2008–9. He died of

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

double pneumonia Pneumonia can be classified in several ways, most commonly by where it was acquired (hospital versus community), but may also by the area of lung affected or by the causative organism. There is also a combined clinical classification, which combi ...

. He was survived by his wife Sally (née Rowat), his father, and a daughter and a son.

References

*http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1837119.ece *http://www.guardian.co.uk/otherlives/story/0,,2101398,00.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Varah, Michael 1944 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Loughborough University People educated at Raine's Foundation School English male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Probation and parole officers