AFTER 10 years in his dream job, Glasgow Airport chaplain Keith Banks is taking flight.

“I have decided to retire,” he says, cheerfully. “I have very mixed feelings about it, but it’s time to move on.”

Described by colleagues as “the spiritual heart” of the airport, Salvation Army officer Keith is well-liked and respected by people of all faiths.  

A walk through the main terminal with him takes twice as long as it should do, because everyone – from the woman in duty free who gives him a hug, to the car rental check-in agent who shakes his hand and the countless staff members who wish him a happy-retirement-when-it-comes – stops to talk.

“I will miss the people the most,” he says. “I have had such a wonderful 10 years here at the airport that it will be hard to leave everyone behind. 

“The management have been fantastic – they have trusted me to do my job, and I’m very grateful to them for all the support they have given me.”

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For 76-year-old Keith, ‘doing his job’ can mean anything from comforting a devastated passenger after a bereavement to directing someone to the nearest toilets.

“All human experience is here,” he says, smiling. “And above all, I have to be myself – not pompous or pious or holier-than-thou. People need to know I’m a human being too, having a laugh which is essential, crying when it is needed.”

Born in Reading, and now living in Inverkip, Keith joined the Salvation Army as a teenager, inspired by his parents and grandparents who took him along to services throughout his childhood.

He met his wife, Pauline, through the SA, and as youth officers the couple settled in Scotland, where their son and daughter were born. Keith and Pauline worked all over the world together, including spells in Papua New Guinea and Japan. Sadly, Pauline died in 2008 after being diagnosed with a rare cancer.

Six months later, Keith – who had always wanted to be chaplain at the airport – was offered the position.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he recalls. “It was my dream job. It was never nine-to-five – if I get a call at midnight, I will respond to it. 

“Switching off is not really in my DNA. But I have loved it. It has given me the chance to do many privileged things, such as giving the Time to Reflect address at the Scottish Parliament, which I did last year.”

Two years ago, Keith fractured his spine in a freak accident.

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“I was simply lifting something heavy, and I heard the crack,” he says. “It was misdiagnosed as muscle pain, but when the pain persisted, I went back for a second opinion and I was told my spine had fractured.”

He pauses. “I’m a positive person, but when things like that happen – you do have the odd ‘down’ moment,” he says. “It made me think – is this it? That was when I started to wonder if it was time to retire.”

Keith is planning a holiday to America – after conducting his grandson’s wedding – and after he has “washed his socks” he intends to write his autobiography.

He has plenty of stories to tell – in Papua New Guinea, he survived a brutal stabbing when he was attacked by robbers, and his wedding was shown on the BBC News because his wife was a member of the Salvation Army pop group the Joystrings, who had a few hits in the 60s.

“It’s something I have been thinking about for a long while,” he says. 

“I’ve written poems before – my book, Contentment sold out all of its 2000 copies to raise money for the Salvation Army, and I write songs, but this is what I want to do next.”

Keith also wrote the musical Covenant, performed at the O2 Arena in London to mark 150 years of the Salvation Army.

“It gives me great joy to see people singing the songs I have written,” he says.

“My love of poetry and song comes from my mother – she was always writing daft wee rhymes and ditties on the back of sugar packets or scraps of paper and through her, I came to love poetry.”

He adds: “It took a while for brain to wake up - I was hopeless at school - but when it finally did, during my Salvation Army training, I realised I had a creative side to me.”

Keith is particularly proud of the Chaplain’s Charity, an initiative he set up at the airport in 2010.

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“We have raised more than £70,000 for a variety of different causes since then - this year’s charity is Children 1st,” he smiles.

“I’m so grateful to have had the chance to do that – another example of the trust my managers had in me, and of the privileges which have come my way through this wonderful job.” 

Keith’s last day is Friday – the airport’s busiest day of the year so far, as the summer holidays get under way. The place will be full of happy holidaymakers and busy staff, and he admits it will not be easy to walk away.

“I’m dreading Friday actually – leaving for the last time will be hard,” he says, and there is a catch in his voice. 

He brightens.“But I’ll be back, and I’ll keep in touch,” he says, broad smile back in place. “Part of this place will always be with me.”