An evening with Mal

Our speaker this month was Mal Hawksworth, the vicar. Well known already to many of the members, we all learned a little about his background and family. Mal gave us a potted history of his life to date and the various stories were littered with humour along the way.

Mal has not always been a clergyman. His father was in the RAF and was eventually stationed at RAF Stafford. After the customary 'O' levels, Mal left school to join local government and then to a sub post office. Around this time Mal married. Teacher training college followed and he joined the Newport Junior School which had an attachment to the local church. Margaret and Mal had their two children, Sara and Mary.

The local rector James Hill was obviously recognising special qualities in Mal when he invited him to tea and popped the question - 'God has asked me to ask you a question'. The question was whether he would join the church. This was such a shock that Mal said it made him physically sick. After much discussion and with the full support of his family Mal made the important decision to attend St. Johns College in Nottingham for three years to train to be a priest. Mal was ordained in Lichfield Cathedral by Bishop Keith. The rector, James Hill, who had seen the potential in Mal years ago, died, and his wife Muriel passed on a suitcase to Mal containing all of James' robes. What a special gift that was.

Mal had been taught that  ' there is nothing that you should not be prepared to do '. As a guest of honour at the Mothers Union summer party he was shocked to discover that he was expected to do a talk. He got through that but then discovered he had got to eat a tea of cold tongue and salad - one of his least favourite foods. Anyway he managed it!

To avoid moving, as Sara and Mary were doing GCSE's and 'A' levels, Mal needed another project to gain experience and this was a placement in a prison. Mal gave us a very humorous account of his time in the prison dealing with difficult characters. This was a massive experience and helped him to secure the next parish in Bloxwich.

The church was neglected, had mesh at the windows to protect them and tatty notice boards. Vandalism was rife and many young people would congregate at the front of the church discouraging church-goers. Mal started to gain the respect of the local youth with the help of one particularly colourful character. The parish was a very generous one and they raised much needed cash for local and national charities. They decided to look for an international charity to support and decided on one in Kenya. Several donations followed and the village were able to build a small clinic. A water tank and purifier were their next project as amoebic dysentery caused by dirty water is a major problem. The local secondary schools paid for Mal to visit Kenya to take the cheque of money raised by the primary schools - this was a great privilege. The Kenyan villagers have a very strong faith and their church services last all day. Mal was very simply entertained for 14 days on basic food, a humbling experience.

The next move in Mal’s life was to locate to Yoxall where he is a very proud member of the Mothers’ Union and the wider community.

Following a bursary donated by Yoxall WI one of our members visited Denman College. She waxed lyrical about the weekend and cannot wait for a return visit. Come and visit the WI table on the 29th September at the Parish Hall where you can find out a little more about us.

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 10th October 7.30 pm in the Parish Hall for an evening of nostalgia. All the old photographs, reports and other archives will be available. Visitors are very welcome and if you think you may know any of our earlier members it would be great to put names to some of the photos. This will also be an opportunity to update the embroidered tablecloth with our new members' signatures. For more information, please click on the link below.

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