Super volunteer Liz calls it a day at last
NEW mother Liz Armstrong was looking for a hobby – and that led to 46 years of volunteering.
Liz has now stepped down after volunteering with the Workers Educational Association (WEA) in Newcastle since 1971.
“Volunteering for the WEA you feel you are helping something that is really important and addresses disadvantage in society,” said Liz.
“Starting with education, the charity wants to empower the most disadvantaged to have a voice and engage in their communities to make the world a better place.”
It all began for Liz six weeks after giving birth to her son.
She said: “I had left my son in the care of his dad to head out to a WEA class on Politics in Victorian England.
“Two wonderful things happened. Father and son both survived the experience, and I was introduced to the WEA.”
Liz recalls how tutor Clive Kent spoke to them about the WEA’s ethos and explained that opportunities to get involved were open to all members of the community.
“He told us he’d left school at 16 and got his higher education as an adult so it was clear he could relate to those who had barriers to learning,” said Liz.
“Higher education was only for the wealthy and privileged and the WEA in the North East was seriously addressing that imbalance by offering three-year tutorials as a kind of degree equivalent.
“He said the Newcastle branch was looking for members so I offered to address envelopes for them if it would help. It was early September and by October I became the branch secretary.”
Liz went on to become a branch representative and then sat on the Northern district committee as treasurer from 1976 to 1980.
“There is now so much competition in the way people live their lives,” she said.
“They work longer and harder and there is less time.
“When I became a mother there was no maternity leave, you gave up your job, so at the time I joined I was full of energy and desperate for a hobby and to be involved in something. I have got far more out than I have ever put in. You learn skills, like managing a meeting, which was very useful for me when I went back to part-time teaching in 1977, and you gain self-esteem.”
Fellow volunteer and branch committee member Noreen Hall said: “Liz does fantastic work for the WEA. I don’t know what we’ll do without her on the branch.
“She has a wealth of experience of the WEA as a social movement and believes in challenging inequality in society.
“She is always enthusiastic about running new courses and does everything she can to get people along. She is an inspiration and will be greatly missed.”
Liz was presented with a letter of recognition for long service from the WEA national chief executive and general secretary Ruth Spellman at the Newcastle Branch AGM.
Founded in 1903, the WEA is the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education, delivering more than 9,000 part-time courses for more than 60,000 people each year in England and Scotland.
For details on volunteering for the WEA in the North East, email amccreadie@wea.org.uk