Published: 7 January, 2011
by PETER GRUNER and TERRRY MESSENGER
THREE leading figures who have helped improve life in Islington are recognised in the New Year’s honours list this week.
Finsbury Park business entrepreneur Paul Morris has received the OBE, Matthew Humphreys, chief executive of government regeneration agency EC1 New Deal, the MBE, and Kristina Glenn, chief executive of Islington’s biggest charity, Cripplegate, the OBE.
Mr Morris, 59, who was brought up on the Woodberry Down estate in Finsbury Park, founded Islington’s prestigious Design Centre at Angel. He was honoured for his work in promoting business in Finsbury Park.
Starting as a junior in the family shop in Fonthill Road more than 40 years ago, Mr Morris has seen Finsbury Park emerge from being a shabby, rundown centre to the vibrant area it is today.
He recently stood down as chairman of Finfuture, the groundbreaking independent enterprise board.
Delighted with his award, he said: “It recognises the work being done by everyone in Finsbury Park, not just me. It also recognises the enormous changes and improvements to the area.”
Matthew Humphreys, a professor of law at Kingston University as well as chief executive of EC1 New Deal, said more than £53million has been spent in Finsbury over 10 years.
“The area has been transformed,” he added. “But I’m particularly proud of the work we’ve done in the parks and with our advice centre EC1 Connect.”
At Cripplegate, Kristina Glenn has co-ordinated distribution of millions of pounds to voluntary organisations.
She also helps spearhead Islington Giving, launched last year to raise more funds from businesses to distribute to the hard up.
Her organisation has pointed out that Islington is still one of the poorest boroughs in the country.
“It’s a great honour to be recognised like this but I’m only a small cog in a charitable wheel which hopefully will be able to make some improvements to the lives of those struggling to cope in these difficult times,” she added.
Head ‘chuffed’ with OBE
A WOMAN who has taught generations of Islington children in a career spanning 42 years has been honoured with an OBE.
Primary school headteacher Theonitsa Sergides was “absolutely chuffed” when she received news of the award on New Year’s Eve.
Ms Sergides, 58, spent the first half of her career at Pakeman Primary before moving to Grafton Primary, both in Holloway
She said: “I genuinely didn’t expect it. It’s a great honour, not just for me but for the schools, the children, the parents and the community.”
She started as a nursery nurse at Pakeman in 1969 before training as a teacher and returning to the school in Hornsey Road. Nineteen years ago she left for Grafton in Eburne Road, where she is now head.
She said: “I do what I do because I love it and I wouldn’t have done it all these years if I didn’t love it.
“I teach children today whose parents I taught years ago as five year olds.”
Ms Sergides arrived in Islington from Cyprus as a 13-year-old with her family, and attended Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, in Donegal Street, Angel.
She brought up her family in Islington before moving to Winchmore Hill when her parents died. “I’m proud of the fact I’ve spent most of my career and my life in Islington,” she said.
Baffled but pleased - Award for sculptor
ONE of Britain’s most influential art teachers, Islington sculptor Richard Wentworth, was originally in two minds about accepting his CBE.
The former pupil at Hornsey School of Art, scene of a sit-in in 1968, admitted he still has a touch of the rebel about him even at the age of 63. He left the college a year before the protest, but was sympathetic with its aims.
The artist, who worked as an assistant to Henry Moore in 1967, describes himself as still political but with a “small p”. Speaking at his home off the Caledonian Road, he said: “I weighed up whether to accept this award, having a poor understanding of the big system.”
He said he was “baffled before being pleased” about the honour but his eldest son persuaded him to “take it seriously”.
Mr Wentworth added: “I don’t think artists think about honours. You meet 10 people a day who you think are deserving of something. The fact that I accepted is an indication of my positiveness.”
He emerged as a major British sculptor in the early 1980s. His work centres on the idea of transformation, of subtly altering and juxtaposing everyday objects and, in turn, fundamentally changing the way we perceive the world around us.
Dinner party doyenne
A LEADING light of the Islington dinner party scene, Jennifer Gay Tripp Black, receives an MBE in recognition of herwork for three charities.
Ms Tripp Black, 58, is on the committee of GASP, the Great Almeida Supper Party group, which holds get- togethers to raise funds for the Almeida Theatre in Islington.
She and fellow committee members host parties in their homes, charging guests £60 each. The cash pays for Almeida outreach workers, who encourage children to participate in theatre as performers and spectators.
She said: “Our guests get an evening at the Almeida, followed by a dinner party – a great evening all round. And the money goes to a very worthwhile cause. Participating in theatre gives children confidence.”
Ms Tripp Black, of Halliford Street, Islington, is also chairman of Katie’s Lymphoedema Fund, named after a friend who died from breast cancer.
The charity has raised £100,000 to help train nurses to treat lymphoedema, an after-effect of cancer surgery.
And she works for the Veterans’ Support Committee of the Canadian Women’s Club in England, which provides Christmas, Easter and Canadian Thanksgiving Day treats for old soldiers from Canada living in the UK.
She said: “I’m very grateful and thrilled.”
Trader who took on supermarkets
Peter Martinelli, one of the longest-serving traders at Smithfield Market, has received the MBE.
Peter, 80, started at the Finsbury meat market in 1953 when he was an unemployed father-of-two looking for work.
Fifty-seven years later, he is still working, although the family meat business, PJ Martinelli, is run by his son Paul.
Peter said: “This award is really for everyone who works in the market.
We are the last bastion of defence against the supermarkets, who would like to control the meat trade but can’t.”
Nursing care advocate
NURSING charity champion Rosalynde Lowe, who lives in Rheidol Terrace, Islington, receives a CBE for services tohealth care.
Ms Lowe heads the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), based at Albermarle Way, Clerkenwell, where she oversees the work of a body “dedicated to improving the nursing care of people in their own homes.”
She was formerly a health authority chief executive and advisor to the government on the role of health visitors. She has worked on nursing projects in Romania, Serbia and Russia.
College careers guru
TERESA Esan, who has launched “countless” careers, receives an MBE in recognition of her work advising young people on their future prospects.
Ms Esan is director of employability and employer engagement at City and Islington College, which has bases in Archway, Holloway, Finsbury Park and Angel.
She helps place young people in training as well as advising businesses on staff development.
A spokesman for City and Islington College said: “We are tremendously proud of Teresa’s professionalism and dedication.”
And also...
HONOURS have also gone to: Christopher Maclehose, from Holloway, for services to publishing – CBE. Director of diversity and inclusion at Lloyds Banking Group Fiona Cannon, from Upper Holloway, for services to equal opportunities – OBE.
Gillian Saunders, from Finsbury Park, for work as secretariat team leader, Social Security Advisory Committee, Department of Work and Pensions – OBE.
Liz Gosling, former operational manager for children in care in Islington, for services to local government – MBE.
Multi-award winning British horeographer Wayne McGregor, from Finsbury – CBE (full profile next week).
