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Shaun Millea at Everton Free School

A former teacher started a campaign for the Hillsborough Disaster to be taught in schools after realising some of his students had no knowledge of the tragedy.

Shaun Millea said he was surprised after finding out pupils were not aware of the disaster’s impact on Liverpool and this prompted him to write a book for children about the disaster.

The Hillsborough disaster claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans on April 15, 1989.



Despite Lord Justice Taylor's initial inquiry finding the primary cause of the fatalities to be the failure of police control, the initial 1991 inquests recorded a verdict of accidental death.

After decades of fighting for the truth by families and survivors, the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report in 2012 led to the quashing of those verdicts and the holding of new inquests, which determined in April 2016 the victims had been unlawfully killed and Liverpool supporters were in no way to blame.

Shaun said: “I got talking to a local lady who was telling me about her niece and nephew.

They lived in Bristol and had come to visit Liverpool - she took them to see the tourist sites and visited the Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield Stadium.

"She told me that neither of them knew anything about Hillsborough or what had happened there, she’d tried to explain it to them but found it hard to do so as they were too young to grasp the enormity of it.”

Shaun Millea with Hillsborough campaigner margaret AspinalArticle continues below

The former teacher published his book, named ‘Hillsborough: One Boy's Story of a Tragedy, When Will Dad Be Home?’ in 2019.

He said: “I was very shocked that [young people] didn’t know, but thinking about it later, maybe I shouldn’t have been."

Shortly after the book’s release Shaun began working with West Derby MP Ian Byrne, the Liverpool FC Foundation and the Liverpool Learning Partnership on the ‘Real Truth Legacy Project’ aiming to promote the teaching of Hillsborough in schools.

In a statement on the project Ian Byrne MP said: “Survivors and the families of the 97 fans who lost their lives as a result of the national disaster that occurred at Hillsborough on April 15th in 1989 have been involved in a three-decade campaign in pursuit of justice.”

He added: “Liverpool city councillors passed our motion to commemorate the Hillsborough disaster with a dedicated education programme and Hillsborough assembly in all schools governed by the local education authority.”

Shaun Millea

Shaun's mission to educate students on the tragedy of Hillsborough continues to gain support, with MP Ian Byrne having put forward a motion to include the disaster in the national curriculum.

His book is also in talks to be turned into a short educational video to be used in schools, as part of the push for greater Hillsborough awareness.

The Epstein theatre will also host a performance of Shaun’s book, which was adapted into a play that has been performed across Liverpool and the City region for the past two years.

The next performance of the play will be staged at The Epstein Theatre on July 18.

Shaun with a poster for the play

In April Liverpool fell silent as the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster was marked across the city.

Hundreds of people gathered in the city centre to pay their respects to the victims of the tragedy.

A special service was held in Exchange Flags to mark the anniversary and ?large numbers of people came together behind Liverpool Town Hall, with a silence held at 3.06pm - the exact time the match was stopped 36 years ago.

The service was led by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Richard Kemp, with council leader Liam Robinson and chief executive Andrew Lewis also present.

Following the minute's silence, a bell was heard to toll 97 times, one toll for each Liverpool fan who was unlawfully killed in the disaster in 1989.

Head coach Arne Slot and LFC captain Virgil van Dijk lay a wreath at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield.

The Liverpool first team and coaches held a minute's silence to commemorate the 36th anniversary, while the Liverpool Women's team, U18 and U21 squads paused for reflection before their training sessions.

97 red balloons were released at Anfield Stadium in memory of each person that lost their lives in the tragedy.


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