Former Leeds caretaker awarded MBE

The former caretaker of St Michael's Catholic College in Leeds has been made a Member of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.  Miss Bridget Redmond - known as May - was just 16 when she began working for the Jesuits at the college in Hyde Park, having left her native Ireland to travel to Leeds to find work.

'There was no work in Ireland and a group of us girls decided to come to England.  We knew a few Irish people had settled in Leeds so that's where we came,' May told the Yorkshire Evening Post.  Starting as a domestic, she worked her way up to become the caretaker and bursar, working seven days a week to ensure the smooth running of the school.  Her many duties included supervising the kitchens, looking after the administration and even doing repairs and decorating.

She said: 'It was super and they were super people to work for.  We were all quite happy.  I think I was quite a good manager - the people who worked for me, the cleaners and the kitchen staff, they stayed for years.'

Miss Redmond had the honour of locking up after the school officially closed in 2008 and pupils were transferred to Mount St Mary's in Richmond Hill.

She said: 'It was really sad when it closed.  I had been there so long I felt like I was one of the fixtures.  But I still keep in touch.  I had a letter from the old boys this week and I'm going to one of their football matches in August.  It will be lovely.'

Outside of the school, Miss Redmond has also worked for her local community and is a parishioner at St Ann's Catholic Cathedral in Leeds.  The MBE was awarded not only for her 64 years of service to St Michael's College but also in recognition of her voluntary service to Education.