Frances Griffiths institutes scholarship to support first year STEMM students at Lucy

Mrs Frances Griffiths (Education, 1992) has generously pledged to support a STEMM bursary for first year undergraduate students at Lucy over five years. 

The Scholarship is set up in honour of her dear friend Marion Blake, who spent her life contributing to the lives of others.

In Frances words, “Marion Blake was born in 1924 in Toronto. It was in 1992, almost 70 years later when Marion was in her late 60’s that we met on a Master’s Programme at what was the Institute of Education in Cambridge. Marion had come to Cambridge as a Visiting Scholar to complete her PhD in language acquisition in elementary school aged children. I was embarking on an M.Ed in Research in Education. After Cambridge, Marion became a freelance editor, volunteering her editing skills in a number of areas that included a campaign to eliminate landmines and lightly editing graduate essays of female Inuit students. 

In the many years before we met, Marion had taught early childhood literature courses on a B.Ed Degree at McGill University. Having returned to University when the youngest of her six children turned 4 years old, she subsequently earned Masters degrees in Education and in Philosophy. She taught at John Abbot College in Montreal and became a Senior Research Officer at the University of Toronto. 

Many were influenced by her teaching, the warmth of her friendship and generosity to all, as indeed was I. It was Marion’s belief in me that encouraged me to apply for the award of  Simms Schoolteacher Fellowship at Lucy Cavendish College. My successful application, followed by a few months as a Visiting Scholar with the support of President Baroness Pauline Perry, offered the warmth and generosity I had experienced with Marion. The stimulating experience of life at Lucy changed the direction of my career.

Marion and I shared a belief in the power of education to change lives, and most especially the lives of women. Our belief created the strong bond that lasted until her death in Montreal at the age of 97. This scholarship is intended to honour her memory. 

It is hoped it will go in some small way towards supporting your studies and influence and impact on the direction of your life.”

About Frances Griffiths

Frances began her career as a teacher in the UK, moving after two years in the profession to Africa where I spent seven wonderful years as a tutor and examiner in adult education. On return to the UK she moved into special educational needs before becoming an Associate Lecturer with the Open University, Lead Head of a School Consortia and then training to become a Group Analyst at the Institute of Group Analysis UK where she was the recent past Chair of The Board of Trustees. In her capacity as a group analyst she co-conducts two on-going groups, a bereavement  group for the relatives, friends and colleagues of medics who take their own lives through suicide and a group for School Headteachers. Frances teaches and supervises clinical trainees, while also remembering what it feels like to be a student learning something new. During the pandemic and especially during lockdown, she has been learning to play the piano. “Application is all important but a good teacher alongside the encouragement of  family and friends has been and continues to be crucial.”