8 September 2026
Talk by Margaret Barnard
An interesting talk was given by Margaret Barnard at our monthly meeting. Margaret volunteered as an overseas occupational therapist in the 1960s. She didn’t know until the day where she was being sent but was pleased that she was being sent to Palestine.
For 9 months she worked with children, mainly from refugee camps, helping them walk, talk and play through music and exercise. Whilst there she travelled extensively to places which are unrecognisable now 60 years later. She also met Sir John Betjeman and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who visited the area whilst she was there. One morning she was told to pack her bags as she was leaving, she had no time to say goodbye to her colleagues or the children. She was on the last plane out of Jordan and the six-day war broke out shortly after. She brought along some items of interest from that era to show us.
Kathy Jordan
Programme Action Officer