INTERVIEW
an MBE. “I almost turned it down,” she
reveals. “Getting recognition isn’t why you
do it. But I accepted it for all those people
who respond when I ask for help.”
Keeping the honour secret until the
news embargo broke was understandably
difficult. “I sent emails to the children
the day before the announcement so they
all knew at the same time, wherever they
were – Anthony was in Africa, filming
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. After
a few minutes the phone rang and I was
told the Botswana Evening News was
on the line.” She simulates the look of
horror at the realisation that the embargo
had been breached. “It was going to be
so embarrassing! And so I took the call.
And Anthony said ‘I got you, didn’t I
mum?!’ “
Gloria’s MBE was for giving so
consistently throughout her life. From the
time when they were newlyweds with their
café in Ryde and customers confided in
them and sought their advice, Edward and
Gloria Minghella were known for their
listening ears – and their practical help.
Edward became councillor with Medina
Borough Council, and it was when she
was in her thirties and saw her third child
off to University that Gloria felt the need
to do something beyond the home, so she
volunteered as a prison visitor. It was a
daring step for a woman, and one which
initially baffled the governor of Parkhurst
Prison. He asked what she wanted to
achieve. “Nothing really,” Gloria had
replied. “I’d learnt through my mother
that you don’t have to worry about what
comes back, you just put it in.”
“The men I was visiting didn’t want
me at first,” she reflects, “and I had no
knowledge of what happened to any of
those I made friends with – but I think
that somewhere along the line, what you
say will make a difference to people,” she
says. After 10 years, and now a councillor
herself, she was asked to be a magistrate.
“I’d always wanted to be a lawyer, and
thought maybe with what I’ve learnt by
listening on the inside I can contribute
something extra.”
She is not without a tinge of regret
about giving up her prison visits. There
is a sense she had strayed into an area
which was not quite her. “Anyone can give
punishment,” she says.
So when she saw an appeal in the County
Press for people to help set up a bureau
to give help to people in distress, she
Island Life - www.isleofwight.net
life
Photo above: Anthony with father Eddie
thought: “This is me.” The first attempt
at a local Citizen’s Advice Bureau folded
after a short time, but a handful of the
founders felt they couldn’t let it go.
“Gloria, your husband’s a councillor, get
us some money!” they said. She paints a
wonderful picture of her first visit to the
council chamber, where she, diminutive
and shy is peered down upon by the
council luminaries as she tries to explain
her colleagues’ vision. But she came away
with the princely sum of £40. “I was
walking on air!” she says.
The CAB now deals with many
thousands of inquiries a year. Gloria rose
to become president, and is still involved,
praising the work of today’s staff and
unpaid volunteers. “It's one of the things
I feel really happy about. I did contribute
something to the Island. They gave to me
and I tried to give back.”
In the midst of all that, her children
went on to be very successful in education.
“All went on to do great things, but
wherever they go they are still friends.”
Gioia, after a successful career in
teaching, has taken the family ice cream
firm to new heights, exploring new
markets at home and abroad; Edana, a
consultant to the Department of Health,
is also a writer and jazz singer; Loretta, a
lawyer, is CEO of the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme and Dominic is
a highly successful writer and produce