29 Facts About Terry Waite

Terry Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s.

Terry Waite was himself kidnapped and held captive from 1987 to 1991.

The son of a village policeman in Styal, Cheshire, Terry Waite was educated at Stockton Heath County Secondary School where he became head boy.

Terry Waite joined the Grenadier Guards at Caterham Barracks, but an allergy to a dye in the uniform obliged him to depart after a few months.

Terry Waite then considered a monastic life, but instead joined the Church Army, a social welfare organisation of the Anglican Church modelled on the Salvation Army, undergoing training and studies in London.

In 1963, Terry Waite was appointed education adviser to the Anglican Bishop of Bristol, Oliver Tomkins, and assisted with Tomkins's implementation of the SALT programme in the diocese, along with Basil Moss.

Together with his wife and their four children, Terry Waite witnessed the Idi Amin coup in Uganda and he and his wife narrowly escaped death on several occasions.

From his office in Kampala, Terry Waite founded the Southern Sudan Project and was responsible for developing aid and development programmes for the region.

Terry Waite returned to the United Kingdom in 1978, where he took a job with the British Council of Churches.

Terry Waite arranged and travelled with the Archbishop on the first ever visit of an Archbishop of Canterbury to China and had responsibility for travels to Australia, New Zealand, Burma, the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and South Africa.

In 1980, Terry Waite successfully negotiated the release of several hostages in Iran: Iraj Mottahedeh, Dimitri Bellos, Nosrat Sharifian, Fazeli, Jean Waddell, Canon John Coleman and Coleman's wife.

From 1985, Terry Waite became involved in hostage negotiation in Lebanon and assisted in negotiations which secured the release of Lawrence Jenco and David Jacobsen.

Against advice, Terry Waite felt a need to demonstrate his continuing trust and integrity, and his commitment to the remaining hostages.

Terry Waite remained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in solitary confinement.

Terry Waite decided to devote himself to studying, writing, lecturing and humanitarian activities.

Terry Waite's most recent book, published in October 2000, Travels with a Primate, is a humorous account of his journeys with his former boss, Robert Runcie.

Terry Waite has contributed articles to many journals and periodicals, ranging from Reader's Digest to the Kipling Journal, and has supplied articles and forewords to many books.

In 2004, Terry Waite returned to Beirut for the first time since his release.

On 31 March 2007, Terry Waite offered to travel to Iran to negotiate with those holding British sailors and marines seized by Iran in disputed waters on 23 March 2007.

Terry Waite travelled again to Beirut in December 2012 to reconcile with his captors and lay to rest what he described as the ghosts of the past.

In January 1996, Terry Waite became patron of the Warrington Male Voice Choir in recognition of the humanitarian role adopted by the choir following the Warrington bomb attacks.

Terry Waite is co-founder and president of the charity Y Care International and in 2004, he founded Hostage UK, an organisation designed to give support to hostage families.

Terry Waite became president of Emmaus UK, a charity for formerly homeless people, shortly after his release from captivity in 1991.

Terry Waite is patron of several organisations including Storybook Dads, a UK charity which allows prisoners to send recordings of themselves reading bedtime stories to their own children, to help stay connected to some of the 200,000 children affected by parental imprisonment each year.

Terry Waite is a patron of Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, the Romany Society and Strode Park Foundation in Kent.

In 1991, following his release Terry Waite was elected a fellow commoner at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

In 1992, Terry Waite received the Four Freedoms Award for the Freedom of Worship.

Terry Waite was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Chester in 2009.

Terry Waite was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to charity and humanitarian work.