I started today by visiting my most recent project 'Monwel Signs & Services' Factory in Ebbw Vale, Wales, UK. It is a sheltered employment organisation, which has been struggling for reasons best left until later. However, the staff there, are simply brilliant... well most of the 30-odd staff are, some are just what you would expect after 30 years of being treated like, well, children.
However, this is not my story today! After my normal early morning visit to this factory, I had to visit my Dentist. Again not the main reason why I'm writing this short blog. Nevertheless, instead of being there, waiting hours as you do in Dentists, a few minutes I was out, scaled, polished and booked in for another visit, as they know I will simple go out, drink coffee, eat chocolate and generally stain my teeth all over again. I’m such a scary guy. Therefore, given this short period 2 hours of freedom in my schedule, I go and visit some of my old staff.
Not many people know, but my first real ‘Managers’ job was in Aberfan Sports & Community Centre in 1988! Yep had the job when I was just 9 years old….well okay may be a little older, but it's my blog and I’m not telling. People from the UK and are over 30 will know the terrible tragedy of Aberfan in 1966. It was one of the first major ‘corporation’ disasters in Wales for sure. The then National Coal Board (NCB) mined the coal out of the valleys and the communities around grew as a result. The problem was that from the coal came waste products ‘slag and coal dust. This was just dumped around the areas and simply turned the green valleys and hills black, and large to say the least from the ‘slag-tips’. To cut a long story short, in Aberfan & Merthyr Vale, it rained heavily and coupled with the fact that the slag tip was dumped over a natural stream, on the morning of October 21 1966, the slag tip turned into a thick sludge and poured down onto the School and Streets below killing 144 people, of which 116 were children.
Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster
This event was, without question heart breaking, and if you visit Aberfan, the feeling of this loss and knowing a whole generation was wiped out, and a parents left to moan the incredible hurt that only comes from out living a son or daughter still hangs in the air.
So as you can imagine going to manage a facility which was built for the children left, and in memory of the children lost was firstly an honor, but extremely scary as a 21 year old…dam gave my age away.
This still is not my point. My point here is that in 1988 as a ‘boy’ I was placed in charge of staff a lot older, wiser and with special connection to the place they worked. I also had to deal with the ‘Trustees’ of the facilities. Each with their own ‘difficult’ memory and loss on that day in 1966. One such gentleman is Bryn Carpetenter. He is a gentleman, and that’s whom I met whilst I was surprising my ‘super-woman’, former Receptionist June Foulkes today. Bryn, around 87 years old now, recogised me, after June had told him who I was, well I have put on weight. I had a feeling of pride, knowing that in my time at Aberfan I had supported his dream of the centre, respected their wishes, and above all, never allowed business, rules, Council Policies to get in the way of their/his desires for the centre as manager. I came away, sad at not being there in Aberfan, but with a strange sense, that I had got something right in my life, something small I know, but I had ‘touched’ others and left a good impression, even after all these years.
I also have to say that I have never come across a worker of such honesty, pride, passion and human empathy as June. Even today, she calls me Mr Thomas, and at the time, all those years ago I kept turning around to look for my father, only to realize she was addressing me.
I wish I could have studied her in my research, captured her essence as a person, employee and Receptionist bottled it and I know now I could have made a fortune changing others.
I have led a really luck life, and its people that make it special
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