Inspired by the “Volunteer Profiles” which featured in the GWL newsletters published in the 1990’s and 2000’s, we’re introducing some of our current volunteers, to highlight how they support our work and why they do it.
This is Pauline’s story….
As often happens in my Glasgow life there is an Oban connection!
I moved to Glasgow from Oban in 2012 having lived between Oban and Glasgow with my partner since we retired from Oban High School 2006 (I was the school librarian). After his death in 2013 my daughter said to me one day “you should go to the Women’s Library, Wendy says you would love it”. The backstory here is that Wendy’s partner Gordon and Catherine had been friends since school days in Oban. In fact I had met Wendy with Gordon on the train to Oban years before when she was at university and we spent a good bit of the journey talking about being a librarian.
So one day I boarded the train for Bridgeton and visited GWL for the first time. It really was my lucky day. It is such a warm welcoming place – I felt almost immediately at home and knew I wanted to be a part of it so soon volunteered. Given my library background I was asked to help with cataloguing and I had some initial training with Anabel but unfortunately I had developing health issues so wasn’t able follow that up.
The Story Cafe was a different matter however and it has become the focus of my involvement with GWL and after almost 10 years I still enjoy it as much as the first time I attended, sitting in the circle, chatting, eating lunch while the big brown teapot circulates before the readings begin. And what a variety there has been, fiction, poetry, travel, memoir, biography, story-telling – the whole range of human experience, celebrating both the highs and lows of women’s lives, past and present, Scotland and worldwide. I love both listening and reading at it, the Story Cafe Specials featuring authors sharing their work with us and Wendy’s generosity in listening to my suggestions and involving me in planning future programmes. Story Cafe sessions always end with some poetry and I am so grateful for this as it has re-awakened a love of poetry which I seemed to have lost over the years. I am sure it was also the trigger which started me writing poetry for the first time during lockdown.
A year ago I said to Wendy that I wished there was more I could do and there was – she was looking for someone to write a regular Story Cafe blog and so at the age of 78 I became a blogger and what fun that has been!
Over the years I have brought visiting friends to Story Cafe, encouraged Glasgow friends to visit, donated books and for the first time Catherine came with me to an evening event earlier this year.
So thank you GWL for the friendship, fellowship and support – it has meant so much to me. GWL is a special place, you are all special women and I am a fortunate woman to be a small part of your work.
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