Family pays tribute to Amy’s House director and ‘Mr Handsworth’, Maurice Littlewood

Sheffield charity Amy's House director, Maurice was 87 when he passed away on February 3, just three weeks shy from his 63rd anniversary with his wife, Meriel Littlewood.

And his passing has left a huge void, not just for the community, but also his family who are still coming to terms with the loss.

"We were only 16 when we met. We used to go to the same school when we were younger," Meriel, his 83-year-old wife, said this at their house in Bramley Estate, Handsworth, where they've lived together for over six decades.

They would have been married for 63 years on February 28, she continued, and what struck Meriel the most was Maurice's selflessness.

"He wouldn't like to see anyone struggling. If he saw somebody on the side of the road that looked as though they were struggling, he would stop and offer his help.

"He was the best - he didn't want anything in return. He would do anything he thought would make life better, easier," she said

Maurice, who died of old age, also left behind two children, Andy Littlewood, 54, and Jayne Beckett, 57, and four grandchildren.

Father-of-two Andy said Maurice had been in hospital just before Christmas and but managed to return home in time for the celebration.

He said Maurice had a couple of heart surgeries done previously, and they took a toll on him.

He said: "He was immensely strong. On each of those occasions, we were taken into a room where we were told that it wasn't looking good and dad always fought back

"We were always in his corner as we were here, working tirelessly to get everything that we could to get him better but unfortunately, this time it wasn't meant to be.

"It doesn't make it any easier for us no matter how old we are or how old he was, he was just our dad and we loved him and we all miss him terribly."

‘A giant of personality’

Jayne Beckett, founded Amy's House with her mum and dad in 2003, after the passing of her older daughter Amy in 1999 and seeing how much she struggled with her second child, Molly, who had severe special needs.

Molly sadly passed away in 2011.

Jayne said: "My dad saw me struggling. So at weekends, he did a focus group where we had a room at a local school and a lot of people started coming.

"He basically banged on house doors and asked for financial support (to set up Amy's House) and it's gone on from strength to strength.

"When I lost my daughters, my mum and dad were my rocks. I couldn't have carried on without them.

"Dad was such a tower of strength for me back in those days and up to now. He was a giant of personality, very humble."

'Mr Handsworth', as people affectionately called him, Maurice was a popular face among the locals. He would sit in town hall meetings and 'spoke the bitter truth' just to make Handsworth a better place.

Jayne added: "People said he's a top bloke. He did a lot of selfless things and he never got paid for any of it.

"He used to sit at town hall with people with a good amount of money and he'd say, 'I can say what I want because you can't sack me'. He was totally honest and he got a lot of respect for it."

Maurice was also responsible for the annual Christmas tree and lights on Handsworth Top where he managed to secure the funding to have the electricity installed.

"He also did the air pollution monitoring here and people probably didn't know he did so many things that were under the radar," said Andy.

In addition to that, Jayne said he was the first person to introduce library books to the Bramley Estate, after seeing a lot of elderly people who did not have access to go to town to read.

“He’s left such a lasting legacy,” she said.

MBE in 2011

His accomplishments did not go unnoticed, as he received his investiture at the Buckingham Palace on March 31, 2011 that gave him the honorific title, the MBE.

But there was a story behind it.

Andy said: "I was going to put an application for him via stealth and he didn't know I was going to do that.

"It turned out, it wasn't me who put in the application, it was somebody else and we still don't really know who it was because it's an awful lot of work to put into getting him honour, so thank you to whoever did that."

He said since his passing, the family has been inundated with nearly 600 messages on social media, saying how much he had touched their lives and how much he had helped them.

Andy added: "Even when he was poorly in bed, we were having a joke, he was saying funny things and making us laugh. We have got that tremendous love for him and just great memories of childhood."

Maurice's funeral will be held on Thursday, March 3 at 11am at Handsworth Methodist Church, followed by a private committal at Hutcliffe Wood. Members of the public are invited to pay their last respects.

Only family flowers are accepted and donations can be made in lieu of flowers to Amy's House.

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