Why is there a South African embassy in Preston?

A man who forged an unlikely friendship with Nelson Mandela has spoken of his pride at knowing the anti-apartheid activist.

Professor Stephen Grigg runs an honorary diplomatic mission between the UK and South Africa from his farmhouse in Preston, Lancashire, borne from his relationship with the former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The 68-year-old was appointed as an honorary consul by the South African government to represent their interests across the North of England in 2006 after he met Mandela whilst working as a director for British Aerospace.

"I didn't expect to meet him," he said. "I got a call saying we're going to see the chief, and it was Nelson Mandela!"

"I was just amazed with the size of his hand when we shook hands, and I said, 'I'm so honoured to meet you'," he said.

He said Mandela replied: "I'm honoured to meet you - I've heard all the things you've been doing, so let's sit down and work out how we're going to work together.'"

"After that meeting, I then began facilitating things in the UK and elsewhere," Grigg said.

Nelson Mandela led the struggle to end the apartheid regime of South Africa and replace it with a multi-racial democracy.

Imprisoned for 27 years, in 1994 he went on to become the country's first black president and one of the world's most revered statesmen, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

"I am lucky to work with diplomats doing things for countries and people whose culture I like, and I find easy and pleasant to work with," said Grigg, who grew up on a council estate in Wiltshire with six siblings.

He later became a teacher, and later the director of education and strategic liaison at British Airways.

Grigg's jurisdiction also included education and health, where he works with schools in South Africa and the UK through the STEM Racing project, formerly F1 in Schools.

But one of Grigg's favourite projects, which earned a signed thank you letter addressed to Grigg's Preston address from Mandela, was his work recording an anthem of Hope for the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

"Following a major cancer operation, I went to see Madiba [Nelson Mandela], and I was asked to look after a young lad from a South African township," said Grigg.

"His name was Siphiwo Ntshebe, and I couldn't believe how good his voice was - experts said it was better than Pavarotti.

"Mandela wanted to show the talent that can come from a township, so I brought the lad over to the UK and we recorded an anthem called Hope, based on Mandela's 27 years of imprisonment to liberate South Africa."

The anthem, produced by Trevor Horn in Abbey Roads Studios, includes a message by Mandela, which Grigg personally recorded at the former South African president's home in Johannesburg.

Ntshebe passed away before he could perform the anthem at the World Cup, but Grigg hopes Mandela's message lives on.

Grigg remembers Mandela through photographs with the former president, and signed pieces of his artwork and hand-written diary entries from his time in Robben Island, where he spent 18 years of his sentence.

"Mandela talked to me about his belief in God, and how that helped him get through all that time in Robben Island, and how difficult it was to then form a government," said Grigg.

To celebrate what would be Mandela's birthday, Grigg will be in London's Trafalgar square for a concert later - where the Hope anthem will be played.

"It's interesting because in 1976, I was in London's Trafalgar Square during the big free Nelson Mandela demonstration," said Grigg.

"Little did I know that a few years later, I would actually be on the balcony with Mandela, watching people outside.

"And I'll be there again, exactly 50 years after that day."

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