Festival Fellows
In 2018, we expanded our Fellowship award to our Festival members in recognition of the outstanding contribution that our festival personnel make to the Federation and to supporting performance opportunities for all.
The Fellows for each year can be seen by below.
Lynne Barnes |
Lynne has been the backbone of the Mid Somerset Festival for many years. She has a wealth of expertise and knowledge, and understanding of its machinations. She has worn many hats during her long years of service to the festival, and has always taken on an extraordinary workload. Enabling young people to find their voice and confidence has been central to Lynne's commitment to the festival movement, and to the Mid Somerset Festival itself. She is passionate about the opportunites that participation in festivals can offer young people, and she is always looking for ways to enhance and increase those opportunities.There is no doubt that without her dedication, the Mid-Somerset Festival would not be the successful festival it remains today. Lynne has a very creative and forward-thinking approach to the speech and drama syllabus, suggesting new classes, such as repertoire, to reflect the changing needs and interests of students, and others with the school curriculum in mind. Under her stewardship the festival has grown its offering significantly. Lynne introduced the Musical Theatre syllabus, which became part of the festival in 2011 and is now well-established. She held full responsibility for the running of that section until last year. Lynne has not stopped innovating for the festival, with a new visual arts section under development for next year. Lynne is to be credited with introducing and developing the Bath Young Actor of the Year event for the Mid Somerset Festival. Since its inception in 2014, this has grown into a most prestigious event, with financial awards to the junior and senior winner each year In addition to her work with speech and drama, Lynne also acted as entries secretary for the adult choral classes in the music section from 2014-2020. Aside from her work with the Mid Somerset Festival, Lynne also offers support to Nailsea Festival of Music, giving invaluable advice on the running of the speech and drama section. She has also acted as adjudicator's steward for about eight years for Nailsea.
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Audrey Stewart |
Audrey Stewart has dedicated 43 years of service to the Federation. She has held the position of Vice-Chair of the Northern Ireland Festivals Forum for at least 6 years and represents the region at Festivals Council level. As the Regional Representative she supports and advises other festival in the region. Audrey became involved in the Carrickfergus Music Festival in the early 1970’s, starting off on the music committee, then as assistant music secretary to music secretary and is now the organiser. She was responsible for successfully initiating the re-starting the festival in 2023 after the Covid restrictions had meant no festival took place during the pandemic years. She successfully leads the team of festival volunteers and facilitates the setting of the syllabus while advising on the renewing of existing classes and the introduction of new classes to keep the festival up to date. She hosts a special day in her home for the music committee to play through and listen to a range of pieces to assist in deciding on appropriate set pieces, maintaining a library of suitable music for this purpose. She ensures that a range of classes is included in the syllabus for special schools and on request has included a class for severe learning difficulties and another class for moderate learning difficulties. This has encouraged different special schools to enter and she is going to offer taking the adjudicator out to these schools in 2024 as transport arrangements are becoming more and more difficult for schools. Audrey devises promotional flyers, posters, the festival website and Facebook posts to inform a wide spread of the public about the festival, as well as making personal contact with music teachers to update them on the range of classes available. Contact is made by email to schools before the start of the school year to ensure schools have the date of the festival to assist in the schools’ planning for the year. Audrey has been a regular attendee at the annual BIFF conference since 2008. She was also involved in helping to arrange the BIFF Conference held in Belfast in 2014. Audrey makes significant contributions to her local community in Carrickfergus, not only through the organisation of the festival, but also through her school and church choirs. In 2023 she organised an end of festival supper and the festival was able to present a sizeable cheque to “Friends of The cancer Unit NI”. Audrey plays a pivotal role in promoting the festival movement, having also been a serving teacher and school principal for a number of decades. |
Pamela Frazer BA DipMusic |
Pam became involved in the Richmond upon Thames Festival in 1977 as Patron's Secretary and she has been involved in a variety of roles service over her 45 years of service. In her various roles as Instrumental Section Secretary, Organising Secretary, Chair, Administrative Assistant, Pam played a key role in maintaining the Festival's connection with the Federation. Pam is described as the embodiment of the spirit of Festival: Fun, Encouragement, Support, Teaching, Inspiration, Variety, Audience, Learning and Sharing. The Festival had become affiliated to the Federation in 1934 and on joining the Festival Committee, Pam soon became aware of the Federation's influence on Festivals in improving standards both of performance and administration. Not only did Pam help with organising successful Area forums, she also helped Federation staff with the organisation of one of the experimental Regional conferences in Bexleyheath in the 1990s. In 1991 Pam was nominated to introduce representatives the Surrey and West Sussex Festivals to the Duke of Edinburgh at a Royal Reception at St James's Palace in recognition of the outstanding work of the Federation in artistic education. Very attuned with the times, Pam has been instrumental in supporting Section Secretaries' desire to add new classes to reflect changing interests, while endeavouring to maintain the high standard of music making that has become a hallmark of the Festival. She was also instrumental in creating and managing the Festival's website - one of the first festivals to have its own website. During the pandemic, with the enthusiastic support from one of the younger members of the team, Pam became involved in the process of running the Festival’s very successful first virtual festival in 2021, using the Play and Perform platform. The year 2000 saw a name change from Richmond upon Thames Music Festival to Richmond upon Thames Performing Arts Festival to reflect the fact that the Stage Dance and Speech & Drama sections were under the same umbrella. That same year Pam was successful in securing a Millenium Lottery Fund grant to provide jazz, dance, drama and piano workshops as well as a Piano Recital for young people. In 2010, in an effort to be more publicity conscious Pam created an annual Newsletter which was initially distributed by post to patrons, teachers, stewards and advertisers. These publications gained an even wider audience with the growth of electronic communications and subsequently became available via email, on the internet and the Festival's website. In 2021 Pam collated a great deal of archival material and self-published a history of the Festival with a great many photographs and a wealth of information about the people who had the vision to begin such an undertaking and contribute to its continuing success. The list of participants who have gone on to have illustrious careers in the arts is heart warming to all of us. |
Jackie Martindale |
Jackie has devoted 47 years of service to the Federation. She has been a Music Secretary with Wirral Festival of Music, Speech and Drama for many of those 47 years. She has a wealth of knowledge in relation to music, running a festival and the music syllabus and programme compilation. Jackie recently received her 40th certificate of recognition of her long-dedicated service in a festival meeting. She has held the office of Regional Representative for the North West for over 10 years. She has also taken part in radio interviews with BBC Radio Merseyside to promote the festival. She is very passionate about the festival movement and is very keen that the festival grows in strength and numbers. Jackie devotes hours of her time to ensure that the Music Festival runs smoothly. She goes beyond the call of duty in relation to ensuring all volunteers are clear of their roles at the festival. She visits each one and talks through their role, what to expect and gives them an overview of the festival weekends. She also briefs them on the day of the festival and is visible throughout the day ensuring that any queries are answered and any issues resolved. Jackie firmly believes the Arts are for everyone and is very keen to encourage “inclusion” for 2020 and all years. When Jackie reviews the entries to the music festival if any of the entrants, parents or teachers have indicated that any of the children or adults have a physical disability which could make getting on to a stage, climbing stairs etc. Jackie will consider which rooms classes should take place in order to accommodate the individual and ensure if the room is upstairs there is lift access. Jackie is also instrumental in organising the Regional North West Championships. They are very successful and enable the region to showcase the amazing talent that we have. She works tirelessly with endless enthusiasm and hard work to ensure the success of the championships. Jackie’s knowledge is invaluable and she is a huge asset to the Federation and to the Wirral Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. |
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Dr Mary Goss |
Mary joined the committee of Newry Feis in 1983 and was appointed General Secretary/Administrator in 1996. She was appointed as Hon Secretary of the Northern Ireland Festivals Forum in 2003 and as Chair in 2016. She remains in this position to date. The promotion of Newry Feis is paramount for Mary. To mark their 70th Anniversary she was responsible for the commissioning, collection and editing for publication, of stories and personal reflection from performers, parents, adjudicators and committee members to produce a small volume entitled 'Suddenly I knew that this was for me .. .' She had oversight of the planning and organisation of their 75th Anniversary Prize Winners Concert, their 80th celebrations and more recently their 90th Anniversary Charity Concert which featured distinguished past as well as present performers. Mary has encouraged the inclusion of classes for Special Needs Schools which are a huge success in the Music Section. Classes for cultural minorities, including children whose first language is not English have been incorporated into the Speech and Drama (Schools) Section. Mary has negotiated support through parents and teachers for children on the autism spectrum who wish to take part in the Schools Speech Section and is working on multilingual advertising material for use on the website, facebook and for flyers.
Mary was appointed to the post of Chair of the Northern Ireland Festivals Forum in 2016 having previously held the post of Hon Secretary. She very quickly settled into her new role leading the regional forum and has guided the festival community in many challenges. Her knowledge and experience facilitate development for all festivals in the region and she ensures that strategies are found and implemented to safeguard a viable future. She takes pride in strengthening the overall impact of the festival movement by sharing her leadership and management expertise. Mary is always available for help and guidance and her positive attitude has been instrumental in maintaining high attendance numbers at regional meetings. Newry Feis is the largest festival in the Northern Ireland Region, consisting of six sections, and held over 43 days in three venues with over 14,000 entries demanding the expertise which Mary has in abundance. Her IT skills and artistic talents are the envy of her colleagues throughout the region. In 2016 Mary negotiated the establishment, for her festival, of the Run My Festival online entries, payment and scheduling system which, with thoughtful consultation was whole heartedly welcomed by teachers. She organized training sessions for secretaries and continues to provide ongoing support where needed. Mary was responsible for the design and commissioning of the Presidential Chain of Office. This magnificent piece bears the names of past Presidents of the Feis as well as the current incumbent. This was presented at a special function to mark the launch of the 90th anniversary year. Mary's inspirational leadership as Chair of the Northern Ireland Festivals Forum is helping to maintain the large numbers of delegates at regional meetings and at Conference. This is echoed in the ever increasing number of members from her own festival who regularly attend NIFF and BIFF events. |
Mary Powney |
Mary was Chairman of North West Region of the Federation for seven years from 2009 to 2016. Mary has been a regular attender at Regional Forums from the 1990s onwards, first at Northern Region meetings and then at North West when the Festival was moved to that region. As chairman of the North West Region Mary was responsible for instigating discussions and inviting speakers from Macclesfield to advise on important matters. Mary was also the Chairman of the organising committee for the North West Regional Championship in 2015. Mary has regularly attended Conference as Festival Representative during the last 30 years. Since 2014 Mary has personally raised over £2000 per Festival via personal and class sponsorship, a scheme she introduced in 1999. She has raised the musical profile of the Festival by putting her professional skills at the service of the Festival as Hon. Official accompanist (app 30 years) and as Hon. Chorusmaster (1973-1993) for the large choral concerts which formed a unique part of this particular Festival. Mary encouraged the Festival to promote a 'Rock, Pop and Jazz Fun Day' in partnership with a locally based inter-schools Saturday initiative. Mary has constantly renewed and developed the Festival syllabus by introducing, over a number of years, several vocal classes such as 'Songs from the Shows', a recital class and 'Pop ballad' , this last calling for skill in the use of a backing track and microphone These classes now form a major part of the Festival and draw in performers who might otherwise not feel the Festival is for them She also started the Show Case Concert which ends the competitive part of the Festival. This, combined with an existing Young Musician Award, again raises the Festival's profile and enables us to invite and thank our local authorities and corporate donors. Over the past 50 years Mary has been part of a committee continually committed to outreach work with local schools. Mary was also a member of the Advisory Finance Committee during the chairmanship of both Donald Maxwell-Timmins and Margaret Venables, attending meetings at Festivals House. When Mary decides to retire from the Mary Wakefield Festival she will be irreplaceable as she is considered by the whole of the Committee as the memory of the Festival.
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Kathy Goodspeed |
Kathy been the South West and Wales Representative on Festivals Council since 2011. She was previously in post as Treasurer for the SW Regional Forum, having been elected in 2003. Kathy has been thoroughly committed to regularly visiting festivals in this area, giving wise advice, support and encouragement. Kathy is both General and Music Secretary for the Longwell Green and Kingswood Performing Arts Festival. She has individually assisted every office holder on both the Longwell Green and Kingswood Eisteddfods while they ran as individual festivals. She also worked tirelessly as a scribe and steward throughout each festival. She supported both Longwell Green and Kingswood Eisteddfods during a tricky period where there was a strong chance that both festivals could close. Her guidance, however, at committee meetings, AGMs and while working with individual committee members enabled the two Eisteddfods to merge smoothly, resulting in a much stronger committee with a wider range of skills and expertise. Kathy’s knowledge of Festival protocol, safeguarding and charity regulations was invaluable during this process as policies and a new Constitution were drawn up. It is fair to say that the merger would not have gone so smoothly had Kathy not been there to guide the process. For several years Kathy was a volunteer at All England Dance’s regional finals where she has been involved with assisting and stewarding. Kathy has frequent contact with local dance schools and festivals, keeping up-to-date with current trends in dance via All England Dance. Kathy took on the role of Dance Entry Secretary prior to the merger and reviewed the syllabus for that year. She has also advised the new Entry Secretary in the further development of the dance syllabus. For the Mid Somerset Festival, Kathy is a member of both the General Council (since 2007) and Music Committee (since 2006). In 2009 she introduced Dance to the Mid Somerset and became Dance Chair. Kathy also has input, via the Music Committee, to the syllabus for the Music Festival. As a member of the Music Committee Kathy has involvement with the Festival’s ‘Inclusion Day’. This is held each year in March as part of the main Festival – it takes place at Threeways School in Bath, which is a centre of excellence for children with special needs. The children at the school take part in a themed morning of music making/drama, together with children from some of the local primary schools (by invitation). This has always proved to be a very successful event, with everyone enjoying themselves tremendously and gaining a great deal from it. Kathy is sensitive to issues around inclusion and ensures that the Performing Arts Festival does not hinder anyone from performing. Where appropriate, she enables adjudicators to be aware of any special circumstances relating to an entrant and strives to provide an ethos where any performer is able to achieve their very best. In 2006 she moved to Wiltshire from Cornwall, where she had been involved with Bugle and Indian Queens festivals. Until 2018 she still travelled back to Cornwall to help at Bugle, and still maintains links with Indian Queens. Plymouth Festival was going to close but Kathy attended the EGM and saw through the election of a new committee. She inherited a problem between Bristol and Thornbury Eisteddfod which she has strenuously tried to settle. Finally Bugle Dance was going to close and Kathy offered to stand as Chair for 12 months in order to rescue the festival. She found a new committee and a new venue so the festival could continue. Since 2002, Kathy has regularly attended Conference and encourages others to attend, promoting the value of the talks and workshops as well as the opportunity to meet members from other festivals. Kathy is an ardent supporter of the whole festival movement and has vast experience, which she is always ready to share with anyone needing help/support. She is knowledgeable on charity regulation, safe guarding and general administration. Kathy gives unstintingly of her time to everything connected with the festival movement, at all levels – local, regional and national – displaying a work ethic which is outstanding.
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Barbara Lowe |
Barbara has been a member of the Derby Arts Festival Council for 34 years and Chairman since 2015. She is also the Regional Representative for the East Midlands region. She has also been a Federation Music Adjudicator for 36 years. Four years ago the Derby Arts Festival was in deep financial trouble due to the rising costs of hiring venues. Through her connection with the church where the festival is now held, she was able to negotiate a good financial deal, which enabled the festival to continue and is now on a sound footing. She first sang with the festival at the age of 11 years. For many years she has been very supportive of the Selston Festival as both a teacher and as Reginal Rep. She is now a patron. During her 24 years as Vocal Coach at the Derby Cathedral, Barbara encouraged the Choristers to take part in the Derby Arts Festival which she said was outside their comfort zone, but gave them good experience in performing outside the confines of the Cathedral. She was awarded the City of Derby Civic Cultural Award by the Mayor for her services to music in the City. Barbara takes a deep interest in the programming of the Derby Arts Festival and in reviewing the syllabus each year, has been responsible for selecting items for the vocal section. Barbara is keen to involve schools and organisations with Learning Differences to take part in the Derby Festival. A whole morning is given over to their performances which are extremely enjoyable and fun and the performers are very supportive of one another. She also makes sure that there are performers from these sessions in the Festival Concerts to show the general public diversity of the Festival. There is a “sign singing class” in which School Choirs sign and sing, and it is hoped eventually to get the Royal School for the Deaf based in Derby to take part. After attending the East Midlands Regional Forums as an Adjudicator for a few years, Barbara suddenly found herself being elected as Regional Chairman, a position she held for the maximum of 9 years, double up as a Regional Representative for four of those years. She continues as Regional Rep, and has also been Acting Regional Secretary for 18 months. Barbara has been a member of the Festivals Council for at least 11 years, and was previously a Deputy on the Adjudicators Council for 9 years. As Chair and Regional Rep Barbara has led and continues to lead many sessions, debates and discussions at Regional Forums. She is always eager to receive requests from the Festivals for future topics. Despite some ill health and numerous hospital visits in 2018, Barbara managed to oversee the running of the Derby Arts Festival and also organised and compered the two Festival concerts, one being in the Cathedral, as well as chairing the Derby Festival Council meetings. She was the only Council member to be on duty every day, collecting Adjudicators from their hotel at 8.15am, and returning them after their sessions ended. She also tirelessly continued with her regional work, attending Festivals Council meetings and visiting four Festivals as Regional Rep, and adjudicated at 3 festivals. Barbara is an avid supporter of the Federation and has attended Conferences when able since 1983, both as an Adjudicator and Regional Chair and Representative, and led sessions and discussions.
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Beryl Whyatt |
Beryl Whyatt co-founded the Welwyn Hatfield Festival of Dance 32 years ago and currently serves as its Treasurer. Beryl is also a Trustee of Watford Dance Festival and a regular volunteer at Royston and North Herts Festivalof Dance. All three of festivals are qualifiers to the All England Dance competition, and meet AED’s high standards for quality of venue, range of dance genres and use of Federation adjudicators. Over the years of her involvement with the Federation, Beryl has made a huge contibution to Federation events including the Festival of Festivals, held at the University of Warwick in 1996 and The Millenium Festival in Leeds. Beryl made a huge contribution to the success of the events. Beryl has served as Deputy Representative for the Eastern Region taking over as Representative to the Festivals Council in 2011. Since 2009, Beryl has been a key member of the Conference Planning Sub-Committee and continues to make a huge commitment to the planning of the Federation's Members' Conference each year. |
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Howard Taylor |
Howard has been an established, effective and respected member of Ryton Festival Committee for a total of 59 years. His interest began when he entered bass/ baritone classes of Ryton Festival between 1953 and 1956. He accepted an invitation to join the committee of Ryton Festival in May 1959. After one year on the committee he became Treasurer in May 1960. In May 1962 he switched roles to take over as Honorary Secretary, an office he held for 40 years, until he relinquished the post in 2002. During this time, he was involved on the music subcommittee, actively reviewing the syllabus and making changes, introducing new classes and co-operating with local schools and music and drama teachers. Howard remains an active member of the committee to the present day and was elected Vice-President in 2016. At both local and national levels, Howard has undertaken considerable duties on behalf of the Federation. In October 1965 he attended his first conference in Buxton and was persuaded to revive the North East Area Council. He was elected Secretary/Treasurer from the outset and held the office until 1977. From 1990 until 1997 he served as Chairman of the North East Area Forum and represented the North East at Councils meeting at Festivals House. He attended and acted as a steward at the Federation's celebrations at Warwick University in 1996, and at the Millennium Festival in Leeds. He also attended the Scottish celebrations at Inverness that year. Since his first involvement in setting up the area Forum, he has paid many visits to the other local festivals in the area, including Middlesbrough, Stockton, Tynedale, and Wansbeck. Although long since retired from his official duties as representative, he continues to visit neighbouring festivals as well as playing an active role at meetings of the Northern Forum, where his advice based on his wealth of experience is greatly valued. He is one of the sponsors for the first Northern Regional Championship which took place in July 2018. Howard’s lifetime commitment to and love of the Festival movement nationally continues to remain strong, and in addition to being a Friend of the Federation for some years, he still |
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Janet Topping |
Janet has been Secretary of the South East Region for many years. In addition, she has been the Secretary of the Speech & Drama section of East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival since 1990. Janet became Regional Secretary of the South Eastern region in 2001, and the Federation Regional Representative later in that year. She has been Chair of Festivals Council since 2011. Janet introduced Musical Theatre into the Speech and Drama section of East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival in 2014 , and she has seen it become a successful part of the section. As Area Representative, Janet visits festivals on a regular basis and builds up a rapport with personnel. She visits new festivals to advise them on setting up and deciding if they are granted Provisional Membership status. She attends Festival Council meetings twice a year and reports back to area meetings. As Chair of Festivals Council , she liaises with the Chair of the Adjudicators Council and attends one of the Federation Board Meetings each year to report and discuss any concerns. Janet provides an annual report to the Federation's AGM to assembled delegates. |
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Carolyn McCabe BEM |
Carolyn joined the Committee of Portadown Festival in the 1970s where she has held various position including Chairman from 1998 to 2014. Carolyn has always strived to provide the best possible platform for young people to achieve their full potential and gain personal satisfaction in their chosen art form. When guitar playing increased in popularity, Carolyn took advice from local teachers, and added Classes for solo and ensemble playing which expanded performance opportunities for young musicians, many of whom were accessing the festival platform for the first time. Similarly, a surge in the popularity of Musical Theatre led to the creation of a new syllabus category to incorporate Classes suggested by the local teachers. During her fifteen years as Chairman (1999-2014), Carolyn was able to turn her attention to the motivation and support of all five Sections of Portadown Festival, and to connect with other Federation festivals in the locality. Prior to the start of the festival each year, Carolyn met with the local press to provide information on the forthcoming festival season and to arrange for comprehensive coverage. She established strong contacts with the local Northern Irish radio stations to ensure a stream of valuable publicity opportunities. In her role as Chair, Carolyn was able to place even greater emphasis on the cross community aspect of Portadown Festival and her constant efforts have led to children from all sides of the community coming together to enjoy music making in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. By accepting numerous invitations to attend school events where festival participants were performing she was able to experience their great sense of pride in the importance being given to their achievements. Carolyn was elected to the Executive Committee of the Irish Area Council at the 1990 AGM. As Regional Representative, she visited each festival in the region annually, providing encouragement and support resulting in a strongly motivated Northern Ireland Region. Under Mrs McCabe’s leadership and direction, Northern Ireland hosted the highly successful 2002 Annual Conference of the British and International Federation of Festivals in Belfast, and the memorable 2014 Conference which incorporated events in the iconic Titanic Belfast building. Her energy and enthusiasm for the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of festival work ensured that interesting and relevant agendas, with challenging inputs and inspiring workshops became a regular feature of regional meetings. As a result, Festival representation at Regional Meetings is excellent, as is regional attendance at the BIFF Annual Conference. In 1999 she was appointed Vice-Chairman of the British and International Federation of Festivals, the first woman to hold senior officership of the Federation. On two occasions she represented the British Federation at receptions hosted by The Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace, the most recent in 2005 celebrated the contribution of music to the culture and economy of the United Kingdom. Currently Festivals Vice President of the Federation, Carolyn was conferred with the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the performing arts, in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours in 2012. |
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Anne McGregor |
Anne has been secretary of Inverclyde Music Festival for the last 12 years and is a tireless worker for the local festival. Anne has an extremely strong relationship with secondary schools, primary schools, and nurseryschools in Inverclyde and beyond. A particular focus over the last five years has been the inclusion of Craigmarloch Special School into the festival. Their entries to the festival have become a special highlight, culminating in the school winning the cup for most significant contribution to the festival. The syllabus at Inverclyde is flexible and innovative and due to Anne’s close link with the schools, new classes are integrated and suggestions acted upon. Anne also has promoted the Federation locally and in her capacity as a Scottish Forum Deputy, She has visited festivals throughout Scotland and is always willing to help neighbouring festivals. Ann has a strong connection to both Ayr and Glasgow festivals. Anne regularly attends Regional Forums and contributes a great deal at these meetings. Anne is also a regular attendee at the Federation's Annual Members' Conference. |
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Blanche Woollin |
Blanche first joined Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts as a scribe in 1981. She was then persuaded onto the committee in 1982 and later became Chairman. This was a post she retained for over 30 years. She finally retired from this post in 2018, staying on as Lifetime President of the festival. During her time as Chair, Blanche helped organise the very first School Choirs’ Workshop which still continues today. She also instigated and helped organise the first class for pupils with Special Educational Needs’ pupils. These classes have continued to expand and grow each year. Blanche applied for the Duke of York’s Award and the Festival received the Duke of York Community Initiative Award from Prince Andrew for its work with peformers who have Special Educational Needs. Within the Federation of Festivals, Blanche held the post of Regional Representative for 9 years and was then Regional Chairman for another 5 years. She regularly attends the Regional Forums and Annual Members' Conference. Blanche organised three Regional Championships and still continues to support them. Blanche formed the Guiseley Music Centre Choir and entered them in local festivals. She also toured with them in America, Denmark, Malta and Germany. She conducted the Wharfedale Male Voice Choir and was Musical Director of 5 different local operatic societies. To date, she has received two awards from the Ilkley Council for Voluntary Services for her work for charities. |
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Linda Lear |
Linda Lear has had a long and wide involvement with the festival movement and the Federation. Linda has been a Trustee of Torbay Festival since 1977. She first served as Treasurer and has been the Chair since 1993. Linda has served as a Trustee of All England Dance since 199, and currently acts as its Administrator. All England Dance is seen by many as a 'market leader' and Linda is frequently approached by Festivals, and the Federation itself on occasion, for special dance advice. Linda nominated performers to and attended the Federation's Festival of Festivals at Warwick University to mark the 75th anniversary of the Federation. Linda has also nominated performers to attend the Federation's Millenium Festival in Leeds in 2000. In the 1990s, Linda became a member of the Working Party set up by the Federation to recommend changes to the structure of the organisation. The new structure provided for a reduced number of larger regions.Linda is a regular attendee of the South West and Wales regional meetings of the Federation. Linda has served in a variety of different roles for the Federation including; Regional Representative, Regional Deputy, Regional Chair, Regional Vice-Chair. Linda currently serves as the Chair of the the Conference Planning Sub-Committee and has been on the Commitee since 2007. |