The Bishop of Croydon announced his retirement last week and plans to hang up his cassock next year.

Retiring to Barbados may seem like the ultimate wind-down, but not for the Bishop of Croydon.

The Rt Reverend Wilfred Wood has no intention of saving his energy when he steps down next September.

And he told the Guardian: "Although I will not have any official job, to my dying day, I will still be committed to helping people to appreciate one another and value the diversity which God has given us, which is a wonderful thing."

Although his title implies his area surrounds Croydon, his responsibilities stretch from Crystal Palace in the north down to East Grinstead in the south, and from West Wickham to Sutton either side.

And equally in his duties, the first black bishop in the Church of England works on a great scale.

Credited and rewarded for his work on race relations, Mr Wood, 65, is also patron or president of 25 charity organisations, as diverse as Croydon Symphony Orchestra and Caribbean Volunteer Readers Project.

His legacy will be his endless efforts to integrate ethnic groups. Born in Barbados in 1936, he became well known for being vocal about racial justice while a priest in Shepherd's Bush. He became Bishop of Croydon in 1985.

When the Wilson government, in 1968, planned to replace the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants with a Community Relations Commission, Mr Wood submitted suggestions which became known as the Wood proposals', calling for some members to be directly elected by minority ethnic associations.

In 1992 he drafted a new set of equality principles for employers, with the help of the Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Reverend David Sheppard, which became known as the Wood-Sheppard Principles.

In November 2000, the Queen approved Mr Wood Wilfred's appointment as Knight of St Andrew (Order of Barbados) for his contribution to race relations in the United Kingdom and general contribution to the welfare of Barbadians living here.'

Despite his outstanding work, the modest Mr Wood is reluctant to highlight any issues or moments.

"I'm not very introspective like that. Once you start doing that and making happiness an end in itself, then you are never happy. It's been a great pleasure in meeting and working with people. Some of the work that you do makes you sad when you've seen people hurt or beyond your help."

He said that people were less interactive now, mainly due to the television keeping them indoors and filling their minds with "cardboard characters" instead of real people.

But churches were doing their best to provide a community focus by using its buildings for such purposes.

And he urged politicians to be more accountable in their communities and answer the people more directly.

"I would like everyone to say they will not vote for someone until they've met them personally, which would force the politicians back out to town halls to be questioned, instead of this centralised set up where no one can ask them a meaningful question."

But he has personal experience of trying to get the attention of politicians. He wrote to successive Home Secretaries to voice his disgust at the privatisation of prisons, which he called "immoral and "wrong."

Mr Wood hopes his return to Barbados means he will spend more time with his wife, five children and three grandchildren.

October 25, 2001 13:00