Charity stalwart Beryl dies

BERYL COLSON, a former Saddleworth councillor, has died aged 82.

Her death occurred on Wednesday at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, following a long illness.

Born in Shaw in 1925, Mrs Colson (nee Cheetham) was raised in Grasscroft.

She attended Friezland School and Hulme Grammar School for Girls before training as a teacher in Cambridge.

After qualifying in the 1940s, she worked as a nursery school teacher before marrying George Colson, who died in 1992.

Mrs Colson was also a founder member of Saddleworth Young Conservatives.

She was mother to seven children, and had 22 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mrs Colson retired in 1985, but it was after her husband’s death that she became interested in the Gunjur village in Gambia.

She visited it on an annual basis and shared the basic conditions endured by its families.

Through illustrated talks to Oldham organisations, Mrs Colson raised thousands of pounds for the Gunjur school, helping to build four classrooms to accommodate 200 pupils.

And her efforts were commemorated when a block was named after her.

Mrs Colson suffered serious illness in December, 2003, and was never fit enough to go back to Gambia.

She moved into a residential home in April but fell a month ago and never recovered.

Daughter Cathy Sykes, from Greenfield, said: “My mother died peacefully in hospital with dignity.She was a determined and very independent woman and leaves a legacy in the UK and abroad.”