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I CUTHEROEADVERTISERSTIMES


www.clith0roeatlv0rtiser.co.uk Thursday,Mays i


Thursday,May8,2014 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk


CLITHEROEADVERTISERaTIMES I


BIG AIM: Susan Meadows


YOUR WEEKLY LIFESTYLE AND ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE


Susan is on a mission to make squash bigger and better in Britain FEATURE


b? Duncan Smith- duncaasmith@jpress.co'uk*-i_«’, . Twitter © c l i t h a d v e r t i s e r . i . j


I he first English' 1 l woman to hold both ;worldandBritish . .Open squash titles


- h l . amultaiiepuslyit:;?” ; -- - J ***,, ! - ‘ J t i -


^ 'I^ c a s h i r e ’sLauraMtasSu^V''- ^ b e l ie v e s her sport deserves more


> tcoverage. ? - She thinks that squash should


/ V’ 1"’ , . -S-{; '^bebiggerin Britain!Afterall, we ^ , 'Vl-r?'? are spoilt for world champions: Yorkshire’s Nick Matthew took


"'3 ?nC/ the men’s title in November ' ’ y'


^


O Susan Meadows," r " ^ 'who will be pushing 4?,’„ •’ ?-


*f/>; for more r e c d ^ t io n j i ^ jw * ^


■ h i for squash,the sport < sh e lo v e s^W ^


■ 1 r^mM *3 £ -r ■> t' fat!: :'• WPr- f t * ^ M M


lastyearandforthefirsttime . ever England will go into this summer’s Commonwealth Gameswithtworeigning , champions. ; f But if Clitheronian Susan


Meadows has her way, squash will be soon be challenging for Olympic recognition too.' To say that Susan has never


allowed the grass to grow underherfeetisabitofan . understatement. Her recent : appointment as the new interim chief executive officer for ■ England Squash and Racketball, following a stellar career in the National Health Service, means her hand is firmly on the tiller of the sport she fell in love with as a youngster.


- . r ■ “One of my aims is to see


squash recognised as an Olympic sport, and to see more people playingthegamesofsquash ■ - and racketball, it is a burning ambition to try and make that happen,” said Susan, who won county squash honours and whose family home is at West Bradford. “Laura Massaro is a fantastic


® W L S r | & -


role model, and what she achieved has given squash a real platform to increase the profile and sell the great benefits of the sport. Squash is fun and fast, and it doesn’t take high levels of skill for a beginner to play.. . “Itisaverybigyearfor


squash - we have two world champions - and it could not be a better time to be at the wheel.” With five sisters and four


brothers, life was always a hectic whirlforSusan.whospenther >>- formativeyears at St Michael:


and St John’s Primary School on Lowergate. . >- “I’m the eldest sister, and


Mum’s 83 now,” she said. “Thankfully, she’s still very • active and walks into Clitheroe


every day. Mum’s well known


' in Clitheroe, doing a lot ofwork with the church. It was hard


for her because we lost our dad suddenly, when she was 45, and she was left to bring up two six-; week-old girls, so we all had to :


rally round." - Meadowsbeganhercareer •


in the foothills of the National Health Service, before rising . to the summit of health-care. ;■ management.Inbetween,she: landed a BA Honours degree in Health Management Studies at Lancaster University and a Masters degree in Business and Administration, forging a solid reputation as a hardworking


professional. i . : ?r “I had a few problems '. : .


learning to read at school, and I , left without any qualifications > ■: and sometimes I do think abouM that. Many children, for some ; reason, who are really bright at school don’t engage with the system. They come out with no. exams, not achieving very much'. “I was good at sport, but I was


at a secondary school that didn’t value sporting achievements.” Serving her nursing


apprenticeship at Accrington Victoria Hospital, she spent ■ many happyyears as a community nurse at Slaidbum and Clitheroe Health Centres, where she was schooled in the caring philosophy of the, : National Health Service. “I did a few weeks in an office


in Clitheroe and quickly decided: it wasn’t the life for me, so I took my GCEs atnight school,bought myself a motorbike and rode . to Accrington every day. I had


three months on each ward and I enjoyed every minute. I knew


thenthatnursing wasthecareer • forme. “At one time, I was bringing


three children up, renovating a


house, studying for a degree and working all hours. Sometimes


I’d get the children ready for bed,


then I’d go out to work for the Ribble Wiley Evening District


■


Nursing Service, three or four times a week. • “I’d revise before the children ■ got up for school. But I was very


‘ determined and you just do it, don’t you? I’mjust one of those


people who don’t really see the problems and I think that’s a


strength in life.”


'-V She has a passion for improving organisational, team and individual performance, and that was well-suited to her


, NHS roles, including Associate Director of Community and Primary Care Strategy at NHS North-West and Deputy Director


. posts in Commissioning, Performance and Contract Managemen’tatTrafford,Wigan:


'.'and North Yorkshire Primary Care Trusts.


She also pioneered a


successful project for the effective management of


. back pain, eventually adopted nationwide.’ ^ ; , ; ' . “The pressures on the


National Health Service are enormous, meeting the needs of a rising and ageing population, the costs of medical care and public expectation’s for what can ' be achieved is a challenge for us all "added Susan.. “The NHS, though, is a


unique system, and care for all people, regardless oftheirability ■ to pay, is something that we should cherish.’ In all my time in the NHS, there was always a strong push to preserve those principles.” “Wherever my career has taken me, my life has always


• been in the Ribble Valley. I’m veryproudofClitheroe,my hometown.”


THE VALLEYwow 24


Young Farmers in 70th anniversary


S E E PAGE55


Jewels sparkle at antiques auction


S E E PAGE 26 1 YOUR


DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO


WHAT’S ON WHERE


W0W2 4 7 .C0 .UK


23


from your local


It was flags down and bunting up belonging to Clitheroe Chamber of Early refreshments were provid- ’ the Jazz Festival. Unfortunately, we flags, not forgetting the help from bright and early on a Sunday morn- Trade and Commerce. .<


It's easy. We’ll send you dated vouchers to use instead of cash when you buy the paper and you save money.


j ^Wutumn Farley; from Lather


’ ing when a team ofvolunteers from • They wereablyassistedbyCham-, - Moor Lane, and later in the morn- .; as soon as the scaffold is removed, then returning them to a central col- Clitheroe Chamber o f Trade and beroflYademembers’SamandJohn ing, much to everyone’s defight,Jen-.v from theLibrary.we will finish the’1 'lection point.” - Commerce, helped by members of Turner, IndependentFinancialAd-. niSchumanfrom the Atrium Cafe - joboffproperly. .


•decorated the townins^le. ■ ' Stephen Barker from Steele & People in Castlegate. .■ wiches. • • . ■ d o w n the flagsfrom St Georges Day out’and were thrilled tob eab le t ’o'


edbyBen Flynn of Brunchtime, on .cannot do York Street just yet, but:. Jed and Jos'efwho were brilliant in - ..v • *


Ribble Valley Jazz and Blues Club, . visors of Fern Court, and Chamber at the Castle did the rounds with ... “With the number o fvo lu n te e rsL ite at Castlegate, commented: “My" President Tony Gould, from Party drinks and delicious bacon san'd-.^we had, it made it possible to take V boys get a great buzz from helping’


Son Solicitors, of Castlegate, helped OtherhelpersfromtheChamber . DanielWilliamssaid: “Putting- .atthesametimeandlwouldliketo-'haveajoboftheirownwhichkept by Jazz and Blues Club members includedKarinWilsonfromTaxAs- the bunting up is a real team ef- thank in particular Dan Driver o f ^ them busy aUmornmg.'i'-' ’- ' ; ' John Flanagan and Geoff Jackson, sist, on Whalley Road, and Daniel fort and it was good to have help - D.D.Developments, who worked- ; j .. “Nowthetownlooksgreatandwe werefootingladdersandhelpingput Williams from Whitesands Media * from all quarters in order to get the.. . like a Trojan removing more than :-4:can all look forward to a summer of upalmosttwokilometresofbunting • and Sawley Studios.'


town looking smart’for the start of -200 Union and Cross of St George "events.” .« r’ . ■- it -


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