We were delighted to hear the news that Jenny Lee of the Horsham group received this prestigious award at the recent conference in Telford. The award is for ‘Exceptional service to NWR for contribution of great value over a sustained amount of time’ in this case over forty years. Jenny has been a highly valued member of the Horsham group since moving here to be nearer family. Many of the events which are shown on this page were due to Jenny’s hard work and enthusiasm for making things happen. She has boundless energy and a keen interest in everything and everyone. She is already planning the next day conference! Jenny prepared this wonderful Scrapbook on Horsham NWR activities and she will spend a lot of time being very creative with Origami which delights attendees at a Conference.
In the early 1980’s Jenny set up a new group entitled Staffordshire Moorlands and became the group leader for many years. She was very keen to spread the word about the National Women’s Register. Meetings followed, membership grew and contacts were made with other groups. Within a few years shared events started to be organized. Many Day Conferences then followed, including a William Morris conference with 100 delegates; Medieval Women; The Psychology of Love and in 2007 she was on the organizing committee for the National Conference at Keele University which she combined with an exchange visit with the NWR group Briele, Netherlands. In 2010 she organised another Day Conference for Staffordshire NWR groups in the Peak District. This involved a lot of walking in the local countryside and some delegates camped out overnight. It was so successful that it was repeated the following year.
In 2013 she organised a local treasure hunt in Leek and a Day Conference in Cheddleton which involved guided tours of a local church with Pre Raphelite Connections.
Once Jenny had settled in Horsham she continued to organize events such as the Jubilee Tea at Denbies which was a get together of groups in the South East. She has been passionate about walking and was involved in leading walks on the West Sussex Literary trail on which she created an excellent Blog and also in completing the Diamond Way which took place to celebrate the NWR Diamond Anniversary.
Jenny always attends National Conferences and returns to Horsham full of enthusiasm on what makes NWR work. … being with women who are passionate about living life to the full and continuing to be interested in everything.