THE 30th anniversary of the 1985 Bradford City Fire Disaster should also be the occasion for recalling the organisation of the Disaster Appeal trust fund which in ten months distributed more than £3.5m to more than 300 people without any public controversy.

And yet the man who instigated it, the late Gordon Moore, chief executive of Bradford Metropolitan District Council appears to have been snubbed when his name was put forward for a CBE in recognition of his initiative.

Gerald Hodges, Bradford Council's retiring director of finance in the spring of 1985 attributed the snub to something Mr Moore may have said to Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher when she visited Bradford the first weekend after the May 11 fire. That wouldn't have surprised anyone who knew Mr Moore, for he was never backward in coming forward with an opinion, especially if he thought official policy was misconceived or ill-considered.

On the afternoon of the Valley Parade fire he was in the main stand along with Bradford's-then deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Bill Nunn and civic guests from Bradford's twin town of Hamm in what was then West Germany to watch the final match of the season against Lincoln City.

The early afternoon of triumph - Bradford City had won the Football League Division Three championship - turned into tragedy by late afternoon as the number of dead and injured became clear.

Mr Moore returned to his office in City Hall and, characteristically, set many wheels in motion. He called out an emergency team from Social Services and made sure that collection buckets and boxes were distributed in all city centre pubs and eating houses.

The Fire Disaster Appeal was announced by Bradford's outgoing Lord Mayor, Conservative councillor Mrs Olive Messer. The management and distribution of the donations would be run by a charitable trust fund yet to be devised.

Gordon Moore rang the T&A and asked the paper to nominate its lawyer, Roger Suddards, for the position of trustee of the trust fund. He also rang Pennie Radio to suggest that they nominate their chairman Keith Marsden as another. Mr Moore nominated Gerald Hodges as the third trustee whom he knew would be retiring that June after 44 years in local government finance.

Mr Hodges, nearly 90, takes up the story. He said: "Gordon spoke to Roger about setting up a trust fund. On the Monday Roger rang Aberfan and the Penlee lifeboat disaster people about their trust funds. In the evening he went to London to meet Leolin Price QC, a specialist in charity law.

"They discussed whether Bradford should set up a discretionary charitable trust or a standard charitable trust. The advantage of a standard charitable trust was that any investment received was tax free. The disadvantage was that Charity Commission rules and regulations had to be abided by.

"The disadvantage of a discretionary charitable trust was that income tax was paid on interest accumulated by donations. The advantage was that trustees had complete discretion in the management of the fund.

"When Roger came back on the Tuesday we had a discussion and decided to go for the discretionary charitable trust."

By Wednesday, May 15 a deed had been drawn up and was typed by Beryl Hull, Roger Suddards' secretary at the law firm of Last Suddards. The document was ready for the three trustees to sign at a press conference before television cameras on the Friday at City Hall.

Less than a week after the fire the Disaster Appeal trust fund was in business, which was just as well because by the end of the week donations had raced past the £500,000 mark.

West Yorkshire County Council, which was dissolved by Margaret Thatcher in 1986, the year she also scrapped the Greater London Council, gave £100,000, as did Bradford Council. More than £70,000 came from the public. The T&A donated the £17,000 the paper got from the international sale of photographs and added another £10,000. A further £40,000 came from the auction of football gear on BBC breakfast TV.

The Conservative Government gave £250,000, a sum matched the proceeds from the sale of a special recording of You'll Never Walk Alone sung by Gerry Marsden and guests.

As the money rolled in thick and fast action by the trustees was imperative and they responded.

"At the Friday press conference I announced that I would open my office in Britannia House on the Saturday morning between 9am and Noon to hand out £50 to anybody who anybody who was at the fire and had not returned to work because of trauma. The money was for groceries for the weekend," Gerald Hodges said.

"About half-a-dozen people came in. One lady said she didn't want groceries, she wanted new shoes. She only had two pairs and one pair had been ruined in escaping from the fire. So I gave her £50.

"The three trustees met officially after the press conference and outlined the criteria for the management of the appeal fund. We agreed that we would pay funeral expenses of all the bereaved families; we would make an immediate payment to all the people in hospital to relieve them of financial worries; we would pay lump sums, not weekly sums; payments for injuries would be in accordance to severity; there would be strict confidentiality.

"Trustees were to receive no remuneration for their services. Nor would they have direct contact with any of the claimants. Payments were to be made as quickly as possible and the appeal fund closed at the earliest opportunity to keep costs at a minimum."

Claims were made to four volunteer agents who visited 320 people in their homes. Claimants supplied information which the agents wrote down on seven-page forms. Once the forms were signed they were passed to three assessors - a doctor, a psychologist and an insurance claims manager. The assessors and trustees devised a simple points system to evaluate injuries and payments.

Agents and assessors worked from June to the end of October. At the end of October they and the trustees and Beryl Hull met at the Victoria Hotel and over three days worked through all of the 320 claims.

By March, 1986, the bulk of the £4,322,945 donated to the Disaster Appeal had been distributed. Of the money left over, the trustees made donations to Bradford University's Burns Unit, the BRI, St Luke's Batley Hospital and Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield; the St John's Ambulance Brigade and to the centres of excellence at both Bradford City and Lincoln City football clubs.

The trustees also paid for the memorial service at Valley Parade, the installation of a plaque in Bradford Cathedral, various seats in and around the city and contributed to organisations that had helped the bereaved.

The one and only trustees' report in July 1986 contained the facsimile of a letter from 12 boys aged between eight and 12, sent to the Lord Mayor of Bradford on May 25, 1985.

The writer of the letter, Darren, explained how the boys had put on wrestling matches in his dad's garden, setting out chairs for paying spectators. The six-fight tournament raised £7.55p which they donated to the Appeal.

Darren, who would now be 42, signed off the letter: "God Bless you & your Fund & Help You & Help the people in Hospital to get Better. Love from Darren P.S. and the rest of the Kids."

Gerald Hodges said the trust fund served as a template for others in the wake of the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry at Zeebrugge, the Alpha Piper oil rig fire in the North Sea, the King's Cross tube station fire and the 1989 Hillsborough disaster in which 95 Liverpool fans died.

"A conference on disasters was held at Bradford University and was attended by Home Office officials," he added.

The work of the trust fund, the creation of the pioneering skin-graft Burns Unit by Dr David Sharpe, the recommendations to improve amenities at sports stadia, rose out of the ashes of that fire 30 years ago.