Local Face: Marilyn Storer

Marilyn and Nick Storer moved to Wendover 19 years ago because it was so convenient for her to catch the train to Harrow where she worked. Unfortunately, within 3 months she was moved to Ealing which involved changes on the London Underground. However, Wendover had already cast its spell on them and after 21 months, Marilyn was moved again, to Holborn where she worked for her final few years of conventional employment.

Those were the days of early retirement and t in 1995 a relatively youthful Marilyn was able to take advantage of an excellent package and 24 years including marketing and quality assurance management experience in a Blue Chip company to launch herself into a the “Interim Management” market. This allowed her to cut through the politics of a company and do the job in question by gettting on with it. In June 1996 she was asked to do a short term 6 day contract in Ipswich, staying in a hotel: she worked on that basis for 2 3/4 years!

It is a great advantage having worked in a telecoms environment because of the availability of work around but in 1999 back trouble struck her down so Marilyn is now more careful about travel. She also spends more time helping her husband, Nick, in his Management Consultancy. In fact, she was recently able to take on a short term Quality Assurance contract of his in Oxford.

Marilyn and Nick were so happy in Wendover that 13 years ago they persuaded her mother to come and live here, first in a sheltered flat, now in Abbeyfield House,

Dobbins Lane. Marilyn is now on the Committee which runs the House. At the time of her retirement from a large corporation, Marilyn took advantage of a course about working for charities and this has stood her in good stead with some of the organisations with which she is involved. She is joint Sunday School Leader at Aylesbury Methodist Church and on the Church Council. Her back condition is being helped by the Mat Pilates offered by Liz Ward and the Pilates Reformer machine in Wendover Personal Development Centre. Marilyn is also a very active member of Wendover Art . Club and Secretary of Wendover Evening Women’s Institute as well as a member of the Organisation sub-committee of Bucks Federation of WI’s.

Marilyn is a very keen advocate of the WI. Like most members of the WI, she is not really a “Jam and Jerusalem” person herself. She goes more for the painting and other courses on offer. The joy of the WI is its’ complete commitment to Women’s Education. It has its own residential training college, Denman College, near Abingdon, offering courses as diverse as public speaking and computing. The courses last 1, 2 or 3 days and some are open to husbands, too. Marilyn and Nick will be learning about Spanish language and culture in the near future. The aims of the WI are;

to improve and develop the quality of life particularly in rural areas for women and their families to advance the education of women in citizenship and in national and intemational public issues,to enable women to wort together to put into practice the ideals for which the organisation stands.

The UK WI has been consulted by successive UK governments over the years as a non-political organisation. It is affiliated to the Association of Country Women of the World which lobbies the UN. It also campaigns in its own right eg 1920’s venereal diseases, 1960’s – 70’s routine cervical smear tests free family planning, 1980’s better maternity and healthcare, acid rain & water pollution prevention 1990’s support for young carers development on Brownfield rather than Greenfield sites five year moratorium on Genetically Modified Crops

You might have seen in the Health Centre or outside the Library, the newly created banner celebrating the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Wendover Evening WI. With over 70 members, it is one of the largest in the County and always seeking new members, especially the young or young at heart. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month in St Anne’s Hall, Aylesbury Road at 7.30pm for 7.45pm