Carrying the torch for the Mothers' Union

Jean Evans joined the Mothers' Union in 1956, the year when Britain was rocked by the Suez crisis and Switzerland hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest.

Now 104, Jean is still a regular at Llwynderw Mothers' Union, and Holy Cross Church, attending services twice a week and playing a regular part in branch meetings.

Born in September 1921, two years before the diocese was formed, Jean has seen a lot of changes during her time in Mothers' Union, but says one thing has always remained the same.

"Mothers' Union has brought us all together. There's a lot of companionship and friendship. We've been very lucky - we all look forward to coming here," Jean said.

Jean was inspired to join by her mother, in her native Neath.

"My mum was a member at St David's Church. She was always talking about the Mothers' Union so, when I started going to church, I joined.

"We'd meet on a Tuesdays when we'd have a speaker and once a year we'd go on a trip. We used to go to Brecon Cathedral for the festival. We made some lovely memories and friendships. I have made some wonderful friendships through Mothers' Union."

Pam Buller, now 86 and also a member of Llwynderw, joined in June 1966, the month before England won the World Cup.

"It's just part and parcel of my church," Pam said. "I was living in Bridgend when the children were small and they had Young Wives then. Then we emigrated to Australia and found a local church, Holy Trinity, and they didn't have a Young Wives branch, they had Mothers' Union, so that's really how it happened. It was a way of meeting people when you're an immigrant in another country - you don't know people around you – and it was evening meetings so I could go."

After returning to Wales a few years later, Pam then moved to Derbyshire where her membership of Mothers' Union continued.

"My husband joined the prison service, so you have to go where they send you. We were sent to Sudbury and I went to the Church of All Saints, which belonged to Sudbury Hall. I had one time where I had to carry the banner in Derby Cathedral - that was a bit unnerving.

"Then we came back to Swansea. We got a house in Sketty, so the natural progression was to come to Holy Cross. At that stage I was working and could only get there once or twice a year - I was still a member.”

After her divorce, Pam joined the Clyne branch where she was a member until its closure.

“I thought, well, I want to go somewhere, so it was easy to come to Llwynderw - by then we were calling it the Parish of Llwynderw, covering both churches.

"Originally, as a divorced person, I wouldn't have been welcomed, but things progress - the church has changed so much in the last 20 years. But you know the people you're with, you know their aims, and you go to other branches and you've still got that togetherness."

Both Pam and Jean are now regular members of Llwynderw – the branch's banner was designed by Jean's daughter Daphne – and numbers have gone up in recent years. Members meet weekly for Tuesday meetings with guest speakers, raise funds through an annual sale, and support two local charities: AFIA, which provides holidays for families facing adversity, and the Swansea Children's Centre in Penlan.

"We're a band of people together, now women and men, which is great, and we support each other," Pam said.

"It's something where you have a closeness with people - perhaps things you wouldn't discuss with the family, but especially things about prayer. You're one person together.

"It's given me companionship and support, knowing you can talk to people of a similar mind and thinking. That's what I feel about the Mothers' Union."

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