4 March 2025
Gill Saunders shares her memories
Those of us who knew Margaret Hancock were very sorry to hear of her passing. I was unwell and unable to go to her funeral but I heard that it was a loving and caring event where her family spoke proudly of Margaret's gifts and kindness and how much they loved her and would miss her.
I knew Margaret before she came to FAN. We met through friends. I liked her immediately as many did. She was reliable, kind and very interesting to talk to. After getting to know her better, l discovered that Margaret had come to teach languages at the school I went to - when she first qualified as a teacher. I was a student there when Margaret came but I was about to leave school. There were only a few years between us!
Margaret gave FAN a lot of support. She came to FAN in the Salvation Army, Grangetown and MADE Fan in Penylan and most recently to the Pavilion Community Centre in Grangetown.
A number of weeks I drove with her, often with Zahra too - to Margaret's home town to set up a FAN Group. On the way home I would hear some fascinating stories about Margaret - such as how she crossed into East Germany as a student when it was part of the Soviet Union. She loved studying languages and told me if there was one very good reason to learn German it was so that you could then read Goethe, Schiller and other great poets and writers without needing translations.
We would talk about children and grandchildren and we both appreciated how lucky we were to have loving families. I heard much about Margaret's son and daughter and of course about her grandson and grand-daughter. She took huge pleasure in their company.
Margaret was great to know and I'm glad I met her and her friend Monica - getting to know them well through their enjoyment of FAN meetings. I'm glad that meeting her regularly at FAN meetings helped us to get to know and admire her even more.
These photos of Margaret (and Debbie and Ivor Novello) were taken on a Grange Pavilion outing to the Bay some years ago.