60 seconds with Sue Perry

50 Years of Abbeyfield Dedication

Sue is a trustee of Abbeyfield Wessex, and has been involved with Abbeyfield for 50 years, making a huge contribution to the Member Societies in her area and beyond.

How did you first get involved with Abbeyfield, and how has your role developed?

I initially got involved in 1975 in fundraising for the Bristol Society’s newly acquired house in the suburb where I lived. I was asked to be its first treasurer, then also became treasurer of a second house acquired later. I retired as treasurer in 1981 due to personal circumstances, but came back the following year to become the Society’s first paid Administrator, later Director, overseeing 14 houses at one point.

I retired again in 2008, becoming a member of the Regional Council and then an Assessor for each of the three Abbeyfield Standards. I was asked in 2022 to become a ‘temporary’ trustee of the Abbeyfield Porlock Society, to help assess its viability. In 2024 I became Acting Chair, guiding its merger with the Abbeyfield Wessex Society, which we achieved last November, and I’m now a trustee of Abbeyfield Wessex.

For a number of years I have chaired meetings of what is now called the ‘Peninsula group’ of Abbeyfield Societies, which has grown to encompass Societies in Somerset, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall.

Do you have a stand-out memory from your time with Abbeyfield?

I had the enormous privilege of meeting Richard Carr-Gomm several times. I particularly remember an Abbeyfield reception in Highgrove House for our 60th anniversary, hosted by the then HRH Prince Charles. I told Richard that I had met a few people, like him, over the years, who had seen a need and done something about it, whereas I would be worrying how to go about it and where the money would come from. He just smiled and calmly said, “But it takes people like you to make it happen”, totally dismissing any idea of his importance.

What achievements are you particularly proud of?

Although I had to oversee the closure of 10 houses on behalf of the Executive Committee at Abbeyfield Bristol, I was pleased to be able to ensure staff and residents found somewhere else to move (many within the Society), with the funds we raised enabling us to grow and develop. More recently I was glad to act as Chair of the Porlock Society and successfully merge it with Abbeyfield Wessex.

I was also honoured to receive the Royal Patron’s Award in 2020 for my contribution over the years.

What are you looking forward to over the next few months?

I’m looking forward to working with an energetic and ambitious large Society, to ensure a vibrant future for it and the residents it looks after, now and for many years to come.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I plod up and down the swimming pool regularly – I can't dignify it as swimming! I'm also an active Soroptimist (an organisation working to transform the lives of women and girls) and have discovered an enjoyment for baking cakes for regular monthly church matinee concerts, and a monthly cafe aimed at those living with dementia and their carers.