THERE aren’t many people that can boast meeting The Queen once, let alone twice, but that’s exactly what Oxton woman Kathleen Stansfield can do after attending her second Royal reception this month.

Kathleen Stansfield first met The Queen in 1990 after being awarded a Churchill Fellowship for playing an instrumental part in creating Birkenhead’s first credit union.

The 89-year-old was given the chance to meet Her Majesty a second time last week when she was invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen, who is patron of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, hosted the event to mark its 50th anniversary as Sir Winston’s living legacy.

Since 1965, more than 5,000 British citizens have been awarded fellowships from more than 100,000 applicants, to travel overseas to study areas of topical and personal interest.

Wirral Globe:
Kathleen Stansfield with her Churchill Fellowship which she awarded in 1989 for her instrumental part in creating Birkenhead's first credit union. 

Kathleen is one of those 5,000, awarded the fellowship in 1989 for her part in relaxing financial regulations restricting the development of credit unions.

She spent six weeks in Canada and the United States, researching and studying the organisations.

Kathleen, who worked for the Council for Voluntary Service, at the time, said: “They wanted to set them up in Birkenhead because of low income families and the distress caused by loan sharks.”

After returning to Wirral, Kathleen went on to work with community and church credit unions, as well as volunteering at Arrowe Park Hospital and working in schools where she helped with remedial reading. 

Kathleen, who travelled to London on March 18 with her son Stephen, having recently had an operation for a broken hip, said: “When I began this work credit unions were barely known in the UK.

“As a result of my efforts and with assistance from Frank Field MP – who took me to London to meet finance people who were restricted by bureaucracy and financial stringencies - we were able to get these relaxed so it became much easier to set up a credit union.”

Joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, Duke of Kent and Duke of Gloucester, The Queen met fellows from each decade since The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was formed in 1965.

Mother-of-one Kathleen - who has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren – said: “It’s hard to describe what it is like meeting the Queen. One is overwhelmed by the grandeur and the incredible efficiency of the royal household – it’s beyond words.

“The Queen was delightful, she was so pleasant. I spoke to Prince Philip and the Duke of Gloucester who was a very jolly fellow I thought.

“The Duke of Kent was very charming too.”