Maureen gets her cards

If your Diamond Day event hasn’t appeared here, please send us your photos for the Autumn issue. The deadline is 31 August 2020 and the email address to use is office@nwr.org.uk

Below: North West area held their Diamond Day at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle. 35 members from Carlisle, Egremont and Kendal groups celebrated with afternoon tea and Prosecco, and took part in the live streaming of Maureen’s interview. They were also treated to a talk from Tullie House curator Claire Sleightholm on Women in the 60s, and a tour of the museum and gallery.

Facing the front from left to right: Rosemary Morrison, Audrey Slight and Carol Robertson of Carlisle group.

Left to right: Margaret Whitham, Eileen Dixon, Anneliese Froom and Beth Dell from Egremont group.

Left to right: Ali and Sara Duffy, both members of Kendal group.

Christmas comes early

60 years on, and NWR founder Maureen Nicol is once again deluged with post. Lynn Welsher explains.

When NWR celebrated its Golden Anniversary in 2010, we were delighted to welcome our founder Maureen Nicol to join us at the national conference for the Saturday night celebratory meal. The room looked wonderful with golden balloons, and every table denoted by different golden flowers.

At the dinner Maureen was presented with two books. These were full of members’ thoughts, feelings and memories of NWR over the years and included photos and poems. She was delighted with them, and it was a great opportunity for people to express their thanks to her.

Fast forward ten years and here we are in 2020 celebrating our Diamond Anniversary. All over the country we held Diamond Day lunches and tea parties to celebrate our sixty years of existence. In Birmingham we had 180 women, including some from Kenilworth, the group that Maureen still belongs to. The interview between Natalie and Maureen was screened: very enjoyable and a great way for us all to hear about the start of it all!

This time, instigated by some chats on one of our many Facebook groups, we decided to ask groups to send thank you cards to Maureen. Time was tight to get it organised as well as keep it a surprise: being a member, Maureen would read any emails sent out to everyone. I joined in talks with Heather de Lacey and Jenny Lee, who had come up with the original idea, and we thought of using the scrapbook organisers! Between them they could cover the whole country, so all groups could be included.

We then wondered how to get them to her in an ordered way, so that it would not be too overwhelming. Luckily, Maureen had an NWR friend close by, Sue Bowman, who was very happy for cards to be sent to her.

So, the plan was hatched. I emailed the scrapbook organisers, they emailed their groups, and the cards started arriving at Sue’s around Diamond Day. She took a few each day to Maureen and very much enjoyed her part in the process!

Maureen was once more delighted and surprised at all the lovely and appreciative comments. She had so many cards that she had to get out her Christmas card holder, as well as using every shelf and window sill!

Since then, 2020 has not turned out to be quite the year we imagined we would enjoy, and we have little idea of how it will proceed, but there is no doubt that we are all lively minded women brought together by Maureen’s brilliant idea in 1960. Yet again, our thanks go out to her!