AS OXFORD’S twinning officer and latterly international officer, May Wylie’s role has been to organise civic exchanges, support the city’s five twinning groups and make sure council grant money is spent wisely.
And she has certainly done that. And more. Much more.
For while May surely deserves a bit of a rest, her impending retirement has left the hundreds of people involved with Oxford’s twinning links, both here and abroad, shaking their heads and wondering what will happen without her.
When she was appointed in 1992, the mother-of-two said: “We must incorporate young people and look at new ways of doing things.“ So she set about forging links with all the city’s twins — Bonn in Germany, Leiden in the Netherlands, Perm in Russia, Leon in Nicaragua, and Grenoble in France – by organising fabulous events for the young.
May has arranged concerts, festivals, sporting events, even operas, such as performances of Benjamin Britten’s Noyes Fludde in 2000 and Leonard Bernstein’s Mass in 2005.
Most have required organisation that might challenge an army general – arranging for the passage of thousands of young singers, musicians and athletes from across Europe (and back again), picking them up from airports, hosting and feeding them with the help of local families, finding lost passports, mending their costumes, the list is endless.
And all on a shoestring budget, often with May herself – literally – in the driving seat.
Don Rouse, a former chairman of Oxford International Links Committee, said: “When May came to the role, Oxford had very little to do with Europe. But she had a vision to reach out and form real relationships, and she has gone above and beyond that.
“With the help of Tim Healey, Denis Healey’s son, May put on an Oxford Folk Festival and that festival, led by Tim, is still going strong today.
“Next up she hit on the idea for a sports festival. We had Polish ice skaters, Russian gymnasts and French fencers, to name a few and then they all learned a new sport. It was incredible to see. “ “And only last year she brought hundreds of European children to Oxford, arranged for them to be fed and housed and then to take part in a huge production of Carmen.
“But it’s not just the event organising,” he said. “It’s all the behind the scenes stuff she does that’s astounding. It’s usually her who gets a minibus and picks the visitors up from the airport, (perhaps going via London on the way back for a quick tour).
“And if you stop by her house in the evenings and at weekends you’ll find her cooking for events and sewing costumes. She is constantly devising new ways of applying for and getting European grants to make these events possible.
“She has become a licensee, just so we can have bars at our events and when we sent a lorryload of special stones to Leiden in Holland, to make them a special anniversary mosaic, who do you think drove the lorry?”
May added: “I have always had a passion for giving youngsters, who might not otherwise have had them, real life experiences.
“I worked as a Scout leader and when I came to England from Belfast I worked as a supply teacher and for the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in Cornmarket Street. When the job as twinning officer came up, I looked at it and saw it could be a real challenge – and it has been.
“Funding the projects hasn’t always been easy – there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved in setting up events between so many countries — but all our volunteers in the links have been great and when you see young people performing on stage, making new friends and growing in confidence, it really has made it a fabulously, fulfilling job.”
The Russian city of Perm, in the Ural mountains, has been linked with Oxford since 1990 and officially twinned since 1995.
Tatiana Grigorieva, the head of the international relations department at Perm City Council, said: “Thanks to May, Europe and Great Britain has become closer to so many Perm citizens, especially young people.”
Mrs Wylie’s leaving party on July 7 coincides with her 66th birthday.
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