My mother, Joan Guy, who has died aged 79, took roles in community and local politics that were instrumental in regenerating Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland. In 1996 she led a Rural Challenge redevelopment bid focused on marketing Saltburn as a tourist destination, increasing the range of town attractions and providing new employment opportunities. The £1m funding awarded by the Rural Development Commission proved a catalyst in the renewal of Saltburn as a beautiful seaside resort.
Joan was born in Salford, Manchester, the second daughter of Thomas and Alice Taylor. After second world war service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, her father returned to his job as a clerk with the Ministry of Works. Joan was encouraged to study hard and take new opportunities. She passed the 11-plus and excelled at Stretford grammar school for girls. She wished to study engineering at Leeds University but was steered off what was considered a male course towards a maths degree, completing two years’ study before she left to begin working life. She joined the civil service and took a variety of roles including one as a tax officer.
However, after marrying and having her first child at the age of 37 she was expected to give up work. She instead channelled her energy into volunteering, providing meals on wheels with the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, fundraising for the NSPCC, joining Saltburn schools’ parents and teachers associations, and holding local fundraiser coffee mornings and jumble sales. When she returned to work at Middlesbrough job centre in her late 40s, she faced a hard fight to be reinstated at the civil service grade she had left.
In 1995 Joan stood for election to Redcar and Cleveland council, in a landslide victory year for her and her fellow Labour candidates. She completed two four-year terms (and became a cabinet member for children’s services and education) and went on to be a parish councillor for six years, with two terms as chair. She supported the parliamentary campaigns of Mo Mowlam (who became MP for Redcar), and Ashok Kumar and Tom Blenkinsop (successive MPs for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland), enjoying envelope stuffing, telephone canvassing and door knocking to get voters out.
After her retirement in 1997, she served for 20 years with Redcar and Cleveland Citizens Advice, and twice as its chair, and as a director of East Cleveland business group. Colleagues have described Joan’s intelligence and wit, but her real talent lay in making things happen.
Her two marriages ended in divorce; Joan is survived by two children – her son, Marshall, and me – and four grandchildren, Elsa, Zara, Isaac and Hattie.
