Obituary: Janette Valentine, activist, writer and poet

Died: November 18, 2018

JANETTE Valentine, who has died aged 84 was a Govanite whose many talents led to a life of adventures and a varied career as an activist, writer and poet. Her early days at Govan High and the McGregor Memorial Church saw her produce many shows and she was a mainstay in the Govan Fair in the 1950s.

Her young family of four grew up initially in Aberdeen where she was a promising youth worker at the Bee Hive youth club in Northfield. An interview with the local newspaper highlighted her sense of community spirit and an early indication of her political leanings as she expressed her disappointment at the Church’s lack of condemnation of the Vietnam War.

A short period followed in Chorleywood, London at the height of flower power; she was a hippy at heart. Here she mixed with the theatre set - the Stoppards played badminton in the garden. She returned briefly to Govan to train as a youth worker and was deeply disappointed at the lack of radical spirit and charity at Jordanhill College.

The family moved to Carlisle in 1971 and for more than 20 years she was the general secretary of the Carlisle Council for Voluntary Services. Based in the centre of Carlisle her stewardship of the Old Town Hall and Tourist Information Centre saw it emerge as the heart of the city.

Always ahead of her time she was involved in the settlement of the Vietnamese boat people, she was the secretary for the local gay group and helped many local self-help groups to set up and thrive, including lone parent and mental health and disability support groups. Her children remember the family home being opened up for right to work marchers and runaways to Gretna. Shelter was also afforded to local women escaping abusive relationships before she was fundamental in the formation of the Carlisle Women’s Aid.

She was the mainstay and chair of the annual Carlisle Great Fair and was instrumental in bringing Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats to Carlisle for their first post Live-Aid concert. As the promoter in Carlisle for early productions of the 7:84 Theatre Company, she joined their board and was their longest serving director.

At the heart of her radical Christian socialism was her feeling of community. She stood deliberately as an unsuccessful Labour Party councillor but years later left the party during the Iraq war. Joining the SNP she was active in the 2014 referendum. She had a great love love of poetry and Robert Burns. She wrote several poetry books that reflected her witty and socially conscious beliefs.

When she retired to Dunoon in 1994 she set up her own Burns centred theatre group, The Dalriada Fencibles. She wrote, produced and acted in plays with her own romantic and political take on the Bard. She guarded the memory of Burns with her customary passion. Although a left winger she was an avowed Jacobite and a fan of Prince Charles.

Refusing to bow to the stereotype of a retired woman, in her 70s she toured New Zealand on a motorbike and drove route 66. She was also the family holder of a chainsaw licence. She always had Govan in her heart and latterly was part of a Govan Girls set of pals. A devoted grandmother, she is survived by four children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.