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Commonwealth Youth Enterprise Conference 1977 - Quorn visitors
Between the 13th and 27th July 1977 Quorn hosted 20 young Commonwealth youth delegates as part of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Councils Youth Enterprise Conference. It was sponsored in part by the funds from the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Appeal. We are indebted to Quorn’s Pat Green, a teenager at the time and a Leicestershire Delegate. Pat has provided a newspaper cutting from the Leicester Mercury (25th July 1977) and documents from the event (see pdf file attached) that make fascinating reading and form part of our Social History.
Here she records her memories of this unique event:
At the beginning of 1977, the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, I was in my last term in the upper sixth form at Rawlins Upper School and Community College (as it was known then). In the summer after leaving school and having originally planned to become a youth worker, I was volunteering at the youth club which was situated on the Rawlins site.
My ‘A level’ English teacher, Jackie Edwards, was also the school Youth Leader and she was involved in the regional planning for the Commonwealth Youth Enterprise Conference 1977 to be held in July in London as part of the Jubilee celebrations. When the original Leicestershire delegates who had gone down to London to meet the visiting participants were unable to continue with the project, Jackie approached me to ask if I would be willing to help host the Leicestershire contingency and then escort them back to London for the conference itself. I jumped at the chance!
A key part of the programme was that groups of delegates from all around the Commonwealth (including the other UK countries) were hosted in the English regions for a cultural exchange, before re-convening in London. This is how Quorn became involved. At that time Quorn Hall was still owned by Leicestershire County Council, and was often used for youth exchange events, so it was felt to be ideal accommodation for our guests, being set in a rural area but close to a town and with easy access to cultural activities.
During the week that we were together in Quorn, we spent a day in Stratford-upon-Avon, ending with a Shakespeare play (of course), as well as other cultural and recreational activities such as an evening of ballet and a visit to Bradgate Park, etc. We also partied a fair bit in Quorn Hall with music from all around the world ringing out throughout the building, long before 'world music' became a widely recognised genre. We also spent many hours just sitting and talking about our own experiences of living in our respective countries as young people.
Sadly I have now lost touch with all the people I met through the Commonwealth Youth Enterprise, but I still remember them fondly and I hope they remember their visit to Quorn with just as much fondness.
From Pat Green, Leicestershire Delegate: Commonwealth Youth Enterprise Conference, 1977
Below is a pdf file which consists of various documents including the students’ detailed programme, reports, letters and a press cutting.
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Submitted on: |
2022-03-13 |
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Submitted by: |
Pat Green and Dennis Marchant |
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Artefact ID: |
2480 |
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Artefact URL: |
www.quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2480 |
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