AWARD-winning journalist Will Venters, who started his career on the Huddersfield Examiner has died at the age of 56 after a short illness.

Born and bred in Huddersfield he attended Spring Grove Junior School and Huddersfield New College before studying journalism in Sheffield.

He left the Examiner to work for a large news agency in the Midlands where he worked in radio for the first time at BBC Radio Leicester.

Returning north, he became a news reporter at Radio Leeds before switching to commercial radio.

When he was sports editor at Bradford-based Pennine Radio he was short-listed for the UK Sports Broadcaster of the Year Award.

He became Pennine’s programme controller, at the time the youngest person in the country to be appointed to such a post, and led the station to the prestigious award as Britain’s best local radio station.

In the late 80s he set up his own public relations consultancy in the Colne Valley, working for a range of companies and local authorities, but he maintained his links with mainstream journalism.

In 1996 he joined ITV Yorkshire as News Editor of Calendar. He subsequently worked on a series of studio and location programmes including documentaries, filming as far afield as China and Pakistan.

He was appointed editor of Calendar in 2005 and that year led the team to the Royal Television Society for Best News Coverage and the ITV News Programme of the Year Award.

Away from work he was a devoted and passionate follower of Huddersfield Town. He was a founder member of the Survival Trust and chaired a packed public meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall when the club was threatened with liquidation.

A dedicated and loving family man, he leaves a wife, Margaret, five children Claire, Andrew, Lauren, John and Katy, and a granddaughter Sienna.

His funeral will take place at St Joseph’s RC Church at Aspley at 10.45am on January 20.

Donations in Will’s memory will be split between two charities: The Jane Tomlinson Appeal and Cancer Relief UK for which a plate will be available at the service.

* This obituary was written by Will himself.