Five minutes with...
             ...Our Parish Secretary

Heather Marshall, our hard-working Parish Secretary, is to be found in her busy office overlooking the Market Square, usually in the company of her dog, a lively Westie called Susie. With her usual patience and great good humour she managed to make time to tell me about her work …

M  Is there a typical office day?

H  No, definitely not! That’s what I love about the job. And working for Kevan, such a character, I never know what’s going to happen next! I wake up each morning with quite a feeling of anticipation.

M  So what’s happened today so far?

H  Well, I’ve had an enquiry about a baptism, one about a wedding, and a booking for St Mary’s House, all fairly routine. But then someone rang to trace a Woodbridge man killed in World War II, and someone else to find out when Woodbridge Cemetery opened; we get some odd enquiries. And Kevan had a spot of trouble with his new ’phone and my computer misbehaved, so I had to sort that out. Then the curate needed some addresses, and the flower ladies and church cleaners wanted a word: but in between I managed to get Kevan’s letters typed and the PCC photocopying done.

M  And on other days?

H  Funerals; I’m always liaising with undertakers and the families – it can be very distressing. And there’s the weekly pew-sheet, usually left until the last minute to get everything up-to-date.

M  So – in a nutshell – the role of the Parish Secretary?

H  Supporting the clergy in their work, which means I’m involved in almost every aspect of parish life ("actually she keeps the parish sane," interjects Paul loudly from the next room).

M  How long have you worked here?

H  Amazingly, seventeen years! I began with three hours a week and then Kevan arrived and over the last seven years my work has increased to thirty hours. There’s so much going on.

M  And what does Susie the dog think about all this?

H  Susie thinks it’s the best thing in the world to come to work. She loves it here. People bring her dog biscuits. When I say, “Off to work now!” she barks and dashes over to the car.

Mary Hodge