91 year-old Della Bowen has no intention of giving up work

A woman who has dedicated her life to helping those less fortunate than herself has no intention giving up voluntary work – even though she is 91 years old. Della Bowen from Coventry has had a lifetime helping disabled children and is still doing so – despite her advancing years.
Della, who has three children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren was born Della Kennedy in Galway in 1915, during what her daughter Georgina Larsen-Archer described as ‘hard times’. She came to England in 1934, working at GEC where she met her future husband.
In 1946 she joined the Union of Catholic Mothers, an organisation she held several positions in over the years, later receiving a Bene Merenti medal from Pope John Paul II, which she was presented with when he visited Coventry.
Then in 1958 she was approached by the Sue Ryder Trust to help a young disabled boy who needed a special lift to get him into the bath. Speaking about her mum, Georgina said: “She realised there were a lot of young people around who needed help and she and others started an organisation called the Catholic Handicapped Fellowship.
“She said with every handicapped youngster there was a handicapped family too and she believed that family needed help. She felt if she could take them away for a holiday it would help the youngster by giving them a holiday break and also help the family by giving them a break for two weeks.
“They started this association and it is still running and they are still going to Barmouth every year. Without my mother pushing for it it wouldn’t happen.”
This year Della had been hoping to travel to Lourdes with another organisation, the Saint Bernadette Trust – if she had it would have been her 64th trip there, but she was unable to go. Georgina said: “We all decided to go with her but they wouldn’t let her travel because she had had a knee operation. We all went and she couldn’t – she was devastated.”
As well as the trips to Lourdes and Barmouth, Della has also taken children to Euro Disney in France. “She wears me out watching her,” added Georgina.
In 1979 Della retired from her job at Broad Park in Coventry – a short stay home for youngsters with severe physical and mental disabilities. She had first started working there in 1954, as a cleaner, ending up as the head of the home.
Georgina said: “We lived in Tennyson Road, where my mum still lives and they built what was then known as an occupational centre, but which would now be called a special school. She went along and worked there as a cleaner. That seemed to be the start of her work but she must have had a leaning towards helping less fortunate people. Because of that I have too. There was a post advertised for a teacher in this school and I went along and was appointed.”
When Della turned 90 she held a big celebration but rather than ask for presents she asked for donations for relief work in the wake of the Asian tsunami, raising £1,800.
To mark the occasion she received letters from both the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Aherne and President Mary McAleese.
Georgina said: “They congratulated her on her birthday and on the work she had done over the years, working in the community, especially with disabled people.”
These messages were just two of many examples of the recognition Della has received over the years. She has received several awards, including some from the Coventry Evening Telegraph.
They include: Citizen of the Month (1985), Woman of the Year (1993), Irish Woman of the Year (1994), Heart of England Award (2000) and Irish Festival Woman of the Year. She has also received a National Award for Voluntary Services and the Jim Walsh Memorial Community Trophy for her lifetime helping disabled people.