Breakfast Meeting

Our most recent member, Joan, spoke about her life, work and passions.

Joan is a Bridgend girl, born and bred. She went to local schools and planned to become a schoolteacher. She was accepted in Loughborough Teachers Training College but sadly family circumstances changed when both her elderly parents became ill and she had to stay home and help care for them. Instead, she obtained a company scholarship with the Steel company of Wales, Port Talbot. After 4 years she gained a HNC in business studies and Statistics. They employed her as a Statistician in the research centre. Alongside her main job, she worked in their language laboratories translating French and Spanish orders and letters. 

She met her husband Brian (also a fellow rotarian) in Top Rank, Cardiff in 1967. They married in October 1970 and have been blessed with 2 children and 3 grandchildren. Joan was happy caring for the family but, once the children were old enough, she decided to return to work full time. 

In 1989 she started work at Bridgend County Borough Council in the finance department, firstly as a cashier but progressed to deputy manager of the cash office, supervising the processing of all income received into the authority from many different sources. At the time of her retirement the cash office account totalled £300 million pounds and was balanced at financial year end to the exact penny. 

She retired in 2013. Brian and Joan are active, energetic, social people with many interests. Ballroom and Latin American lessons and gained their bronze medal. 

Joan enjoys being involved with bowls. Outdoors she is a member of Bridgend Municipal Bowls club and deputy chairperson on the board of directors. Every other Saturday morning she runs a coffee morning for former lady bowlers, many of whom are widows. Friends are welcomed too. It’s very popular and a lifeline especially for those who live alone. During the winter months Joan plays indoor bowls at Halo indoor bowls hall. She plays competitively in the Tuesday and Thursday leagues. Every Monday morning she runs a bowls competition for people who have never played before or those who want more practice. Joan is part of the coaching team and players selection committee. 

Apart from her sporting interests, she is a member and assistant treasurer of Laleston WI. Both Brian and Joan are members of Laleston Gardening Club. It was at last year's Laleston Village show that they took an interest in the Bridgend Rotary Stand. Joan stated that she's delighted and proud to be a Rotarian. 

Her speech ended with a funny story about her dilemma on deciding how long her speech should be. She decided that she would compare the speech to the length of a lady’s skirt. Long enough to cover all the important bits but short enough to maintain everyone’s interest. It raised a few laughs.