Fundraiser Margaret remembered for her tireless work and her cakes
Tributes have been paid to a leading light in the fundraising efforts to help those with leukaemia.
Margaret Giles from Fairfield Park, who worked tirelessly for Leukaemia Research in the city for more than 45 years, died on Tuesday, July 3 aged 84.
Margaret, an evacuee to Bath from Hastings during the Second World War, who was most wellknown for her wonderful cake baking and jam making for charity events, helped raise thousands of pounds for research into the disease.
It all began after schoolgirl Rosemary George, a pupil at Bathwick junior school, died tragically of the disease in the 1970’s.
Margaret, whose daughter Lorraine was attending the school at the time, and other parents and friends around the city, decided to get together and raise funds for research into leukaemia.
Rosemary’s parents had originally called a meeting in the Pump Rooms in 1971 to raise awareness of the disease and highlight the need for more research following the death of their young daughter.
The meeting was well attended and a committee, including Margaret, was formed to raise funds, organising cake sales, coffee mornings, fairs at the Guildhall and other events.
Jan Hudson, a friend of Margaret’s, who herself has lost a child to leukaemia, said: “Margaret was just one of the best persons you could ever meet.
“She was so kind and friendly, always doing something for other people. She got her whole family involved, even her elderly father who she got to bake cakes for occasions.
“She baked the most wonderful cakes, not just for Leukaemia Research but also for other events locally, she really was a wonderful person. Margaret will be greatly missed by her daughters and grandchildren and all her friends in Bath,” she said.
The committee continues to raise funds to this day, now organising runners in the Bath Half Marathon for leukaemia charity Bloodwise.
Margaret lived with her family in Snow Hill before moving to Fairfield Park in 1986.
A shopkeeper in Bath after the war, she had met and married her husband, delivery driver Bill Giles in 1953. Bill, who later became a bus inspector in the city, died of cancer in 2002 aged 72.
The couple had two daughters Lorraine and Christine.
Lorraine said: “My mum was always baking, and her jams, marmalades and chutneys were legendary, especially her orange whiskey marmalade.
“She was always baking cakes, she baked one every week for St Swithin’s Church in Walcot Street, she was always busy.”
Margaret, who died after suffering from dementia for some time, is survived by her two daughters Lorraine and Christine and four grandchildren Sam, Jess, Louise and Josh.
The funeral of Margaret Giles will take place at Haycombe Cemetery at 1pm tomorrow followed by a memorial service at St Swithin’s church in Walcot St at 3pm, with refreshments afterwards.