Roy Hackett OBE & MBE 1928 – 2022
It is with great sadness that our long-standing member Roy Hackett OBE & MBE has passed away at the age of 94.
In 1963, Roy was one of the leaders of the Bristol Bus Boycott, a successful protest movement to overturn a ban by Bristol Omnibus Company on employing Black and Asian drivers and conductors.
At the time it was legal for British companies to discriminate against someone because of the colour of their skin. Roy, along with campaigners Paul Stephenson, Owen Henry and Guy Bailey, led the bus boycott protests, which resulted in the company changing its policies and helped to bring about the Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968.
Roy was also the co-founder of the Commonwealth Coordinated Committee and worked tirelessly to set up the St Paul’s Carnival in 1968.
In later years, Roy said ‘I was born an activist and it was my duty to challenge racism whenever I saw it.’
Born in Jamaica, Mr. Hackett moved to Bristol in 1952. He was appointed an OBE in 2009 and an MBE in 2020 for his campaign work.
At the time of Roy’s MBE in 2020, fellow BOPF member Tony Wilson wrote;
‘Roy is the best example I know of why and how Bristol changed from a place of exclusion and division when he first came here, to become a much-admired city of welcome and inclusion. Roy, a long-time member of BOPF, is a gentleman, an influencer, a doer, innovator, role model, happy soul and good friend to many people of all backgrounds.’
Our thoughts are with Roy and his family at this sad time.
The Bristol Older People’s Forum