Mrs Elspeth Sitters (1912-2008)
Arriving in Plymouth as a young bride, the wife of Norman Sitters, Elspeth Sitters began the work that saw the establishment of Plymouth Age UK. Figures such as the City Estates Supervisor doubted her ability to sustain the initiative during the 1970s, but she succeeded, including the acquisition of the site for an Age Concern local headquarters on Notte Street. Originally a teacher she had had to give up her position on marriage, but focused her energies on social activism in Plymouth for the rest of her life. Amongst other things, in the 1950s, she identified a need in the new Southways estate for a Sunday School, initially using the local primary school as the Church of the Holy Spirit was not built until 1960. She was a popular teacher, remembered for her effective teaching style, and for always being smartly and immaculately dressed (but also ineffective when it came to manual tasks!). Her tireless voluntary work saw her making use of her large garden for children’s parties and also for fund-raising events. But what she is most remembered for locally is her persistent lobbying on behalf of retired and older people in the city. Her continued insistence on the importance of improved care for this group helped to win her the OBE. The Chairman of Age UK Plymouth, she was also a JP and is memorialised in the use of her name on Age UK Plymouth’s headquarters.