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Irene Takes The Chair
Irene Richards is the new
Chair of Enfield’s 3000-strong Over 50s Forum. Irene is well-known locally
having lived in Enfield for 30 years. She went to Latymer school where the
idea was impressed on her that “the more you contribute the more you will
receive” - and Irene has followed this principle all her life.
When Irene was a councilor
representing Southbury Ward for eight years, she chaired the now disbanded
Older People’s Scrutiny Panel and was also chair of the Enfield Domestic
Violence Forum for seven years. She is now a member of the Enfield
Safeguarding Adults Board.
Irene qualified as a
teacher/ librarian and emigrated to Australia on marriage and while there
for ten years was elected to Melton (Victoria) council - the first woman
(and a pommie at that) to do so. She became the president (chair) of the
council and trustee of Melton & district senior citizens club.
Returning to the UK, Irene
became a school and college librarian and she is now a governor of two
primary schools - George Spicers and Bush Hill Park, a trustee of Edmonton
United Charities and been a member of Enfield's fostering panel for the
last six years. Currently, she is a member of the Enfield Strategic
Partnership’s older peoples board.
Irene has two children and
three grandchildren, who are among her main interests alongside watching
sci-fi films. "I’m a Trekkie", have an abiding love of music -
opera/classical and more recently I’ve started lawn bowls as a member of
Enfield Bowling Club, which I joined after an invitation to the Forum for a
taster day!
I keep myself busy and under
Monty Meth’s leadership the Forum has gone from strength to strength. So we
will need to think about the size of the Forum and what needs to be done if
we continue to grow at the current pace. With 3,000 plus members it is no
longer a simple organisation and its very size engenders a necessity for a
firm structure. It is also important for the future of the Forum that we
seek out all avenues of funding to sustain it.
“The social side of the
Forum is now a very big part of the Forum’s work in keeping people active
and involved. But we need to keep our eye on issues that affect older people
- such as our current campaign to improve pavements in the borough to reduce
falls and injuries. In other words, the Forum offers something for
everyone”, says Irene. |
