Tributes to Sir Bobby Charlton from Children's Adventure Farm

The former Manchester United and England star lived in Lymm when he was younger and was well known in Cheshire.

For more than two decades he was President of the Children's Adventure Farm Trust in Millington near Lymm.

Here, Helen Crowther, who works for the trust, shared her memories of the man who played such an important part in the history of the charity.

Mostly, Bobby was our friend

I’ve been so honoured to know Sir Bobby Charlton for 21 years, since I first began my ‘life’ at CAFT.

While Sir Bobby had taken on the role as President in 2000, I wasn’t aware of his association with the charity before I began, but I very quickly became aware that we had someone very unique in our midst.

Coming from a family of ardent Liverpool supporters I was aware that there was something very special about our President – something which transcended the usual LFC/Man Utd rivalry in a way no one else could.

But it wasn’t until I met Sir Bobby that this really made sense. He had an amazing ability to make you feel at ease, as if you were greeting an old friend.

I think this is why he was such a perfect fit for our charity, his open, friendly and accepting demeanour meant that within moments of meeting him, you just thought of him as ‘our Bobby’.

Despite being pulled in a million different directions, Sir Bobby and Lady Norma would always do everything they could to help CAFT. Whether that was attending fundraising events, donating prizes for auctions or spreading the word about our work.

But it was the time he gave us away from the spotlight that I remember him for most – it wasn’t unusual for him to ‘pop in’ unannounced just to say hello, always finding time for the children and their carers.

Even if it meant making himself late for an appointment, he would sign every autograph, pose for every selfie and stop for a chat.

The young children he met at CAFT didn’t always fully appreciate the enormity of Sir Bobby’s football career, but Bobby absolutely loved that.

His time with them wasn’t about him, it was about them. He wanted to know about their lives, their hobbies, what they’d been doing that day at CAFT…what they were having for tea! I recall one little boy chatting to Bobby and being told by a teacher that he used to be a famous footballer, the child asked Bobby “Were you any good?”, Bobby just replied “Yeah, I was alright!”. He then went on to sign the boy’s Liverpool shirt, without even batting an eyelid.

That’s the Sir Bobby I remember. The kind, humble, genuine, caring man who always made time for others, and whose smile always reached his eyes.

We’ll miss Bobby so much at CAFT. As our President he was an amazing figurehead, but mostly he was our friend.

Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this sad time, but we will always remember him with a smile and feel honoured that he has played such in important part in our charity’s history.