Gavton Shepherd, who has died aged 76, was a pioneering and respected exponent of youth work in Britain. He devoted much of his life to supporting black youngsters in London and to promoting racial harmony.
Born in Guyana (then British Guiana), he took to community work at a young age, setting up a youth club at his mother's house while he was still a teenager himself. He then became a teacher before moving to Britain in 1961.
Gavton's first job in the "mother country" was as an operator at the Balham telephone exchange in south London, but he was determined to follow his earlier career path. In the mid-60s – after a diploma in youth and community work at Leicester University – he became a youth leader at Railton Road Methodist church and community centre in Brixton, south London.
The centre, which helped to take many black youths off the streets and away from crime, turned into the Shepherd's youth club, named after Gavton and still spoken of by community workers for its successful and innovative approach.
With a social administration diploma from the London School of Economics, he moved in 1972 to become senior youth and community officer at the Race Relations Board (shortly to become the Commission for Racial Equality), a post he held until 1982. He later served as the first black principal race-relations adviser at the CRE.
Throughout these and subsequent years, he used his qualities as a diplomat to chair committees and panels, particularly in the fields of education and mental health. He also acted as a consultant and trainer on youth, community, diversity and racial awareness matters.
He was appointed MBE in 2003 in recognition of services to community relations in south London, and was more widely honoured by those who met him as a genuinely nice man who lent a supportive and compassionate approach to all aspects of life. Although he commanded huge respect for his diligence and quiet firmness, he went about his business in an unassuming and humble manner, and had the knack of being able to question people about their actions and motives while remaining supportive and non-threatening.
A religious man who had been a junior chorister at St George's Cathedral in Guyana during his early years, he became a lay Methodist preacher in London more or less from his arrival, and was fortified by his beliefs when diagnosed with cancer in 2009. He handled his illness with characteristic stoicism and optimism, not to mention an unselfish concern to reassure those around him.
He is survived by his wife, Eunice, three sons and two granddaughters.