100 not out:The centenarian helping others to get back to work
AS THE 90-minute speech ended the audience of 30 unemployed 16-25-year olds immediately leapt to their feet.
Annie with Addison Court's Deb Carter
Not to make a mad dash for the exit of the Dryden Centre in Gateshead but to show their appreciation for what they had just heard. Endearingly the subject of their rapturous applause was 101-yearold former teacher Annie Murphy whom they dubbed Amazing Annie.
By sharing her own experiences of overcoming tough times she hoped to enthuse and inspire her young audience – all desperate to work but struggling to find jobs – never to give up when faced with adversity.
Having lived through both world wars, the Great Depression and equal rights battles for women, she was certainly the right person for the job. And the smiles on the eager faces of those giving her a standing ovation told her that she had achieved what she set out to do.
Annie’s opportunity to chat to the young adult learners arose after she’d proved her mettle as an engaging speaker at the regular reminiscence group held at Addison Court nursing home in Crawcrook, Tyne and Wear, where she has lived since September.
Annie Murphy (back row,far right) with her pupils at kelloe primary schools
Grammar school changed everything for me. If I hadn’t gone I would never have been able to become a teacher.
“Thanks to the staff here I’ve been given the chance to get out and meet lots of younger people to share some of what I’ve learned with them,” says Annie, who is divorced and has a son John, 67, who lives in America and a granddaughter Sally, who’s studying for a masters degree.
“I thought giving the talk would be interesting although I did think they’d be bored. But they listened, which surprised me. I never expected the standing ovation.” For Annie the experience was akin to being back in her beloved classroom where she spent almost 40 happy years as a teacher before retiring in 1973 aged 60, having separated from her husband.
She spoke to her audience from the heart – without any notes – about her own struggles. Having lived through times of incredible hardship including the Great Depression she also endured a difficult childhood which saw her defy her alcoholic father to attend grammar school and train as a teacher.
She grew up at a time when there was no hot water or heating in most houses, no paid holidays or National Health Service. So if we think we have it tough in today’s economic climate, Annie knows a thing or two more about what it is to struggle.
Yet rather than focus on problems she encouraged her audience to focus on solutions: to get an education and qualifications whatever their age in the hunt for the job of their dreams.
This steely determination came to the fore when she was only 11. “My father returned from war with shell shock and he wanted me at home looking after my four little brothers and my sister. But even though going to school involved a five mile walk and two train journeys every day, I was determined to be educated,” says Annie, who was born in Gateshead in 1913.
“Grammar school changed everything for me. If I hadn’t gone I would never have been able to become a teacher. I always wanted to be one because when I was younger I had a terrible teacher – she was a nasty piece of work and I was determined to show that the job could be done better.”
Annie Murphy in the 1930s
Annie’s spirited approach paid off and in 1932, aged 19, she landed a place at teacher training college in Norwich. But just like the youngsters listening to her talk last week Annie soon discovered how demoralising it feels to be long-term unemployed; the soul-destroying search for jobs that don’t exist, applying for the few that do, then opening the rejection letters .
The depression of the 1930s meant it was five years after qualifying before Annie got a job at a school in County Durham just as the Second World War broke out in 1939. “So I know what it’s like when you can’t find work through no fault of your own ,” adds Annie, who met her husband Michael Murphy in 1939.
She was angry that until the war, women teachers had to give up their jobs if they married. “But when the men went off to fight they needed the women and so I was able to keep teaching although they docked our pay by £1 a week.”
Annie was lucky never again to experience long-term unemployment. She hopes that with education, qualifications and a good dose of conviction the 30 unemployed youngsters she spoke to – and others like them – will yet fall upon such good fortune.
But she believes the Government must roll up its sleeves to give them a chance. “Our politicians aren’t doing their jobs . The people at the bottom are struggling. The people at the top should be doing more for young people.
The mess we’re in is not their fault yet they are paying the price for it. Look at what it costs for them to go to university.” FOR those who refuse even to look for a job because they can bring in more cash living on benefits, Annie has stern words.
“There have always been lazy people. There were lazy people when I was working – you will always have people who aren’t prepared to work but I do think the government has made it too easy for people by giving them benefits and places to live.
“I want to inspire young people to get a good education and to keep searching for jobs even when times are tough. If I achieve this, then it will be lovely. I want them to know how important it is to get an education and to reassure them that it’s not their fault there aren’t jobs.
They are not to blame.” Having sat in on Annie’s talk, Addison Court’s activities co-ordinator Deb Carter is in thrall to her insight and determined attitude. “Annie is just amazing,” she said. “When she gave her talk the audience were fascinated. Her memory is crystal clear and she brought events they’d only read about to life.
We are hoping to line up more talks for her – she is inspiring.” These latest opportunities are said to include a possible address to 20,000 delegates at an event in the North East as well as a request for her insight from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Meanwhile 82 years after she began her teacher training, Annie has now been nominated for a local council award in recognition of her lifelong devotion to education. For now, though, she’s taking time out to relax in Addison Court’s café, cinema room and hair salon – and who can blame her? Whether employed or desperately seeking work, there’s a lot most of us could learn from Amazing Annie when it comes to enduring hard times and battling to come up trumps .