A FORMER soldier is celebrating a long and successful career in the clergy, more than 50 years after he was converted to Christianity by American preacher Billy Graham.

The Rev Allan Reed, 76, has worked with deprived youngsters in some of the toughest areas in Hull and Manchester and is now assistant priest at St Mary’s Church in Richmond.

While a student reading geography at Oxford in the late 1950s, Middlesbrough- born Mr Reed attended a rally in London led by the Mr Graham, where he was instantly converted. Although he finished his degree, he knew he had been called to the ministry and was made a priest at York Minster by the then archbishop, Dr Michael Ramsay, in September 1958.

Mr Reed went on to work as a priest in a tough housing estate in Hull, before spending seven years in a parish in Manchester where he also taught children from deprived backgrounds.

He said his conversion was probably influenced by his experiences in the Korean War, during which he fought as an infantryman in the front line and became disillusioned with war.

Speaking of his work in Manchester, he said: “It was so rewarding to see children from poverty-stricken families getting a good education.”

Mr Reed lives in Richmond with his wife, Sybil, and the couple have recently celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

He said: “Looking back, I give thanks for all the marvellous people I have met and known, and the wonderful support of my wife.”