Press Releases
Couple celebrate 70 years of marriage with commons appointment
31st March 2009
A COUPLE who will record 70 years of marriage this year have celebrated in grand manner with a trip to a charity reception at the House of Commons.
Mary Newlands, 86, and her husband Archie, 87, were invited to a parliamentary reception recognising the end of the first year of the government funded Grassroots Grants programme, which has been administered in this area by the South Yorkshire Community Foundation (SYCF).
The community group they work with, the Laughton Common Community Association, has been awarded £4,900 from SYCF, whose chief executive Pauline Grice joined them on the trip to London.
Mrs Newlands, speaking before the trip, said: "I feel thrilled that we have been invited to go. I like London but I haven't been since I was 74.
"To go into the House of Commons is a treat for us. It will provide another memory."
This trip has come as great reward for the service that Mr and Mrs Newlands have given to elderly people based in Laughton Common, nr Dinnington.
Mrs Newlands said: "When we first started the area was really bad, with drugs a big problem on the estate.
"At one point we had eight windows put through in eleven days, and people managed to get in four times. We were doing everything we could to keep them out.
The plucky pair are no strangers to adversity, after they tied the knot just a month after the Second World War started.
Mrs Newlands continued: "We will have been married 70 years on October 27. This invite is like the icing on the cake for us, and I'm so thrilled."
Laughton Common Community Association has received funding to provide community transport to take elderly people to play bingo on two nights per week.
Mrs Newlands added: "Some of the members are never out of their doors, and might not see anyone else all week."
"When the petrol went up it was getting so we could no longer afford the community transport."
Grassroots Grants is a national grant-giving and endowment building programme that will run till March 2011. The reception on April 1st was to recognise the end of the programme's first year, during which £16m has been given out on more than 5000 grants.
Pauline Grice, chief executive of SYCF, said: "I was delighted to have accompanied both Mr and Mrs Newlands on the trip to celebrate the work done by local Community Foundations this year.
"The Laughton Common Community Association is a shining example of how small amounts of money can make a massive impact in local communities.
"The work that the pair do to help other people is fantastic, and considering they are about to celebrate their 70th year of marriage, it is extremely timely that their hard work has been recognised in this way."
Groups who want to follow in the Laughton Common Community Association's footsteps and get hold of a Grassroots Grant should visit www.sycf.org.uk or call 0114 242487.
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