Teacher behind Pulp’s Disco 2000 hit honoured with charity run

Head of Year Seven and ICT teacher at Dewsbury’s St John Fisher school Matthew Shepherd will take on the 13.1 mile challenge for Myeloma UK after Deborah Bone MBE died of the disease on December 30, aged 51.

Deborah, an inspiration behind the Jarvis Cocker-penned 1995 chart-climber was an esteemed healthcare professional.

“She did tremendous work for mental health, particularly teenage mental health. It was for that work that she got the MBE. Sadly it was collected posthumously.

“She found out before, but she had to keep it under wraps. We were incredibly proud and it was a great testament to her hard work.”

Deborah’s husband Colin picked up the award from Prince Charles on her behalf.

Mr Shepherd, 47, said: “It was a very, very special occasion for her husband and everybody connected to her. She was a special, special person and is sadly missed.”

“Jarvis Cocker was a childhood friend of our Deborah’s. She was born in Sheffield and he grew up with her. They were close friends from being quite little. When we had her 50th birthday party, he came along with his mum, sister and son just as part of a family event.

But we had a band doing music and they persuaded Jarvis to do an impromptu version of Disco 2000. Our Deborah was thrilled to bits – it made her night.”

Mr Shepherd will run from Newscastle to South Shields alongside colleague Mark Ward. He is looking forward to seeing his wife Claire, another teacher at the school, and sons Joel and Sam at the finish line.

To contribute towards Mr Shepherd’s fundraising, so far reaching £485, visit www.justgiving.com/Matt-Shepherd8