 |
 |
Local Face
Odile Pollard
May 2010
Odile Pollard was born in Geneva,Switzerland. Her father came from Alsace, France and wanted to celebrate the liberation of the region at the end of World War II by naming her after Saint Odile is the patron saint of Alsace.
Odile says that there are four words that sum her up:
Family: Odile and David came to Wendover from France 31 years ago, when David got a job at Aylesbury Grammar School. Their three children benefited greatly from the excellent education available to them in Bucks. Margaret, the eldest, with Tim and Reuben (3 years old) lives in Switzerland where they are all involved in an international primary school. John, a civil engineer and his wife Hannah, a doctor, work for a Christian NGO, Medair in Southern Sudan. Rachel, the youngest, is married to Paul and is training to be a radiologist in the Manchester area. All are committed Christians.
Fairtrade: It started small, became very big, but now after twenty years is just manageable. The two big events of the year, alongside stalls at local charity markets, take place in the home of the Cox sisters in Weston Turville and in David and Odile’s home in Chiltern Road during the run up to Christmas.
Cycle: Odile received her bicycle for her twelfth birthday and it still faithfully takes her to the village for all her shopping and to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where she started “back to nursing” seven years ago. David is not allowed to use the bike and has to walk to the village shops and markets where he enjoys practising his French with the cheese lady!
Recycle: Odile and David are passionate about recycling and set such a good example to the rest of us. They say the most notorious recycling they do is to collect old, but clean, cotton sheets, tear them into long strips and get them rolled by faithful helpers into bandages for use in leprosy hospitals. They also collect used toner cartridges and the money goes to the Air Ambulance, a very worthwhile cause.
Odile, who also delivers Wendover News in Chiltern Road, loves Wendover and says there is nothing they would like to change about it as it is such a lovely place to live but she has suggested that truly reflective stickers on the lampposts along the Aylesbury Road cycle path would make her journeys back from the hospital safer in the dark!
