LESLIE Fawcett taught design and crafts to thousands of people.

Mr Fawcett, 86, died at his home in Faversham, Kent, but he was always proud to be a Yorkshireman.

He was born in Cumberworth and attended local schools before receiving a scholarship from the former West Riding County Council to attend art school.

On completion of his studies at Huddersfield Technical College’s School of Art he worked at Yorkshire colleges and taught a variety of crafts including textiles, dress, painting and decorating and fine art.

During the summer months he ran short courses for secondary school teachers at St John’s College, York, where he taught subjects such as design, colour and screen printing.

He moved to Kent in the late 1940s and worked at Rochester and Maidstone. In 1952 he was appointed full-time tutor at Medway College of Art and later went on to serve as head of department and then vice-principal.

Mr Fawcett retired from the college in 1987 and was then awarded an honorary Fellowship of the Kent Institute of Art and Design.

He was a Fellow of the British Institute of Interior Design and served on both regional and national committees. He served as president in 1974/75 and was awarded the institute’s silver medal.

He was also a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and sat on the governing bodies of Bournemouth College of Art And Design and Medway College of Design.

Mr Fawcett leaves a widow, Velma, and six children and six grandchildren by his first wife.