Colleagues, former colleagues and friends gathered together at Bilbirnie House Hotel on Friday afternoon to pay tribute and offer best wishes to Judy Black from Freuchie who recently retired from her teaching post at Kilmaron School in Cupar.
Judy was highly respected as a Fife Council member of teaching staff. During her career she made a significant contribution to the learning of pupils at Bell Baxter HS DAS, Southwood Primary and Kilmaron, working with pupils with pupils with physical impairments or severe and complex needs in particular. Judy is highly respected for her patience, composure, innovative approach and excellence in delivery style.
Judy was Disability Sport Fife’s first teenage volunteer. I arrived in Fife in the mid 70s and worked with Judy’s late mother Jean when she was my key contact at Age Concern in Glenrothes. Jean introduced me to Judy and the rest is history. Through time she became our most loyal, reliable and committed young volunteer.
Judy progressed from helping out as a volunteer at the Fife Sports Institute Saturday morning multi activity session for participants with spina bifida to Disability Sport Fife’s first weekly swimming session coach supported by Fife Council. Judy was a founding member of the Disability Sport Fife “rent a gala” team when it was organising up to ten local and national swimming galas for swimmers with disabilities all over the country.
It was inevitable that Judy would be called up for the Scottish Disability Sport monthly squad coaching team and thereafter travel with the junior and senior teams to competitions at Stoke Mandeville, Darlington and Sheffield in particular. Experiences gained from supporting national swim squads and volunteering at Tulliallan multi sport training weekends prepared Judy for the challenges of international team travel. International selections followed and Judy’s career highlights were travelling with the Scottish Youth Team for the World Young Games in Miami in 1989 and then Team GB for the Barcelona Paralympic Games in 1992.
During her professional and voluntary career, Judy has influenced the lives of many participants with different impairments and fellow volunteers and professional colleagues. Judy has always been incredibly industrious and hard working and one of the most well liked individuals in our movement. I do not recall coming across anybody who has anything other than positive comments to make about this very genuine, caring woman.
Isla Lumsden, headteacher at Kilmaron coordinated proceedings for Judy’s farewell at Kilmaron during the day and at Bilbirnie House Hotel later in the afternoon. A school poem was read out and reference made to testimonials about Judy from colleagues, parents and school partners. Isla was enormously positive about Judy as a senior staff colleague and emphasised how much she will be missed by pupils, colleagues, parents and partners. Isla emphasised how Judy has influenced Kilmaron and the wider community. Judy’s legacy will involve high standards, innovative learning practices, child centred learning, loyalty, compassion, consistency, adaptability and high energy. A true teaching professional in every sense.
Judy may have left Fife Council and is now embarking on the next phase of her full and active life but Disability Sport Fife is hopefully that she will continue to support our members in some capacity as a volunteer, where she started out 40 years ago. In the meantime, thank you Judy for your friendship, expertise, commitment, loyalty and for simply being the individual we all respect and admire.
Richard Brickley OBE MBE Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees