Page 212 - Redditch People

Redditch People

JACQUI SMITH

I interviewed Jacqui Smith soon after she became Home Secretary and I was very impressed
with her intelligence and her quick thinking.

Jacqui Smith was born in 1962 and at the age of seven she organised a petition to allow children
to ride bicycles on pavements. When her father was appointed headmaster of Parkside School in
Bromsgrove in 1970 the family moved to Malvern. Jacqui came to Redditch in 1986 as a teacher
at Arrow Vale comprehensive school.

She said that one of the hardest things about being a MP was saying goodbye to her husband and
the children at the beginning of the week.. I asked her what kind of problems people brought to
the surgeries and she replied:

“I have had people who come to speak to me about aliens landing in Redditch from outer
space. I was a bit of a loss as to who I should write to. I have had people who come along
to tell you that the security services are in the house next door, spying on them. I’ve
never yet found any truth in it I’m afraid. I have had people so fraught with their
problems that were so awful that they would start crying in front of me. I have gone
round the table and put an arm round them because they are so upset. It has taken me
some time to get used to this kind of thing.”

TOM WAREING

Tom Wareing is known as the man who is writing letters to the press
all the time. He was also chairman of the National Viewers and
Listeners Association:

Tom was born and bred in Birmingham , he became a Christian at the
age of 13 and has been a member of the Salvation Army for at least
50 years. He was an apprentice bricklayer at the age of 14 and at
16 he was chosen to do an NCO course and became a qualified
instructor. A year later he enlisted into the Corps of Royal Engineers
for seven years. He served in Palestine Belgium Germany Trieste
Egypt and Palestine. And whilst in Kenya he caught malaria and
dysentery. He was sent home and discharged as medically unfit.

He moved to Redditch in 1956. He returned to college, achieved
First Class examination results and became a full time lecturer at Bromsgrove College of Further
Education. He established a Cadet Unit at Hewell Grange, training the boys up in trade or craft
to Intermediate City and Guilds.

He has been a Counsellor at local and county level with a special interest in training. He has served
as a College Governor, Governor of a First, Middle and High School and sat on the Careers
Advisory Committee.

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