Tributes paid to much-loved former Oldham fund-raiser Violet

Proud Violet receives her MBE from the Queen 15 years ago

Tributes have been paid following the death of former Oldham nurse and extraordinary charity fund-raiser Violet Drummond-Griffith MBE.

Violet, who was 87, passed away in Barbados on September 13.

Violet, who previously lived on Vale Drive in Oldham, was awarded the MBE by the Queen in the 2005 Honours List.

She was a founder member of the Oldham Cosmopolitan Association and Choir, which launched as a social club at the Cannon Street Youth Centre in 1978.

Violet took members on day trips, residential weekends away and raised thousands of pounds for local charities.

She came to Oldham from Barbados in 1963 when the Government advertised for nurses.

She worked at the former Oldham Royal Infirmary as an auxiliary nurse and retired from the North Manchester General Hospital after 38 years' service.

Her daughter Linda Griffith told the Chronicle: "My mother was always a kind a caring person who gave so much to so many people. 

"An entrepreneur at heart, she owned one of the first West Indian grocery shops in England, and was the first black home owner and landlady in Oldham, renting accommodation to fellow West Indians who found it hard to find suitable accommodation. 

"She leaves behind an indelible legacy and is part of the Windrush generation of which we are so immensely proud.”

Violet was the mother of Linda Griffith and Pauline Alleyne, Yoland and Carl Griffith in the UK, the late Harriet Browne and Michael Drummond.

She was a grandmother of 14, great-grandmother of 19 and great-great-grandmother of one.

A Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for Violet will be held on Friday (October 2) at St Martin Anglican Church, St. Philip, in Barbados.

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