It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our most senior Honorary Fellow, Margaret Thorne, CBE., OBE.
Mrs Thorne, who celebrated her 100th birthday in January, passed away last week. She was well known for her contribution to the voluntary services, and in honour and recognition of the contribution that she made, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 1984. This award was advanced in the Queen’s 80th Birthday Honours to a CBE, for her work as Chairperson of Neath and Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Services (NPTCVS) and other organisations in Wales.
As a teenager, Mrs Thorne developed a sense of public duty and her first efforts at volunteering in 1938 involved collecting money for dried milk to help babies affected by the Spanish Civil War.
At the outbreak of World War II, her life of public service really began. She became a staff member of the Caldecott Community – a residential school for children from troubled backgrounds. During these years, she endured and shared many experiences with the community, travelling with them from Kent to Dorset to avoid bombardment.
At the end of the war, Mrs Thorne returned to Kent and in 1949 she married Ivor, a solicitor in local government, who had served in the army during the war. In 1951, after two moves and the birth of the first of their two children, the couple came to Neath. Here, she soon became involved in the voluntary sector. In particular, she worked with the British Red Cross and eventually became the President of the West Glamorgan Branch. She was also awarded a medal for sixty years of volunteering with them.
Mrs Thorne was the first person to be awarded a Fellowship by NPTC Group of Colleges in 2017. Her honour represented a great deal of commitment to her public services duties.
CEO of NPTC Group of Colleges, Mark Dacey said: “Mrs Thorne was a remarkable lady, and we are privileged to have had her as a Fellow of this College. She was very special and held in high regards by all who knew her. She served the community with pride and dignity and will be sorely missed. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time.”
