Fred Jarvis

Frederick Frank Jarvis CBE (8 September 1924 – 15 June 2020) was a British trade union leader. He was President of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 1952 to 1954 and General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) from 1975 to 1989. Jarvis served as President of the Trades Union Congress in 1987, the first Oxford graduate to hold that position.

Early life and education Jarvis was born in West Ham, at that time in Essex but now part of the London Borough of Newham, into a working class family. As a child, he attended Plaistow Secondary School in what was then the County Borough of West Ham in Essex. His father worked in a flour mill. They had two children.

Jarvis was a lifelong supporter of West Ham United Football Club.

In 2014 he published his autobiography You Never Know Your Luck.

Honours and recognitions Jarvis received the Labour Party's National Merit Award in 2008. The following year, he was awarded the Lifetime Commitment Award by the NUS, the organisation he once presided over. In 2013, Times Educational Supplement awarded him its first Lifetime Service to Education award.

Jarvis was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours.

Fred and Anne Jarvis Award

Named after Jarvis and his late wife, the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award was established in 2007 and presented annually by the NUT. Originally for individuals outside the NUT who have campaigned tirelessly for children and young people, in 2017 the award was given to a NUT member. From 2019 the award has been presented by the National Education Union, which has succeeded the NUT.

Winners include writers Robin Alexander, Melissa Benn, Alan Gibbons, Fiona Millar and Onjali Q. Raúf MBE, former child prodigy Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, England international footballer Marcus Rashford MBE, former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

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