NEWS
Neil’s adventures with Stoke City
Football Club and his encounters
with celebrities, football stars,
political and religious dignitaries
and even members of the
Royal Family – as well as with
the “ordinary” people of the
Potteries – have gained near
mythical status.
The Keele campus hosted the
“Marvellous” film crew but Keele
was not just a stage for the
movie but has been the enduring
backdrop of Neil’s entire life,
a home to which Neil turns to
find safety, lifelong friendships
and a self-appointed mission of
welcoming students.
Keele first accepted Neil in
1962 and for over fifty years
he has befriended successive
cohorts of students, building an
impressive network of alumni
contacts around the world.
Keele’s adoption of Neil is not
just practical but also symbolic –
it represents an intangible “Keele
spirit” that so many of us feel but
find it impossible to convey to
graduates of other universities.
Neil Baldwin was granted
honorary life membership of
the Students’ Union in 1968; he
was granted honorary alumni
status on his fiftieth anniversary
of attending Keele in 2012, and
in 2013 he was awarded the
honorary degree of Master of the
University. It may have taken six
decades for him to receive his
Keele degree, but few have done
more to earn it.
18 | Keele University