After a lifetime of supporting other people in Glasgow and in Argyll, Mary-Jean Devon, from Tobermory, has been awarded the BEM.
Mary-Jean, better known as M-J, returned to her mother’s home of Mull 30 years ago and felt that there was something missing for young people, so she started a drama club.
A total of 42 children from Tobermory attended and from there she started to empower young people to find their own voice.
Brought up in Glasgow, Mary-Jean had spent “every minute” she could back in Tobermory.
In the city, she was involved with the Boys’ Brigade for 25 years, and then in a school for children coping with profound disabilities. She opened her own home to those who were homeless, and as an Elder in her church ran a drop in centre
A bank worker by profession, she eventually convinced the Clydesdale Bank to allow her to work on the island for four years, as she settled back “home”.
The 77-year-old said: “I would have done anything to be back on Mull. Tobermory has always been home to me.”
Mary-Jean Devon’s determination after MS diagnosis
She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis. When she was told she would have to change her life and stop what she was doing as a local councillor she defied medics.
Instead she got up two hours earlier to complete exercises.
She travelled on early morning public transport and 6am ferries to get to council meetings on the mainland, some 100 miles away by 10am.
She is a committed advocate for the Gaelic language. For many years, she was a member of Mull Gaelic Choir, active on the committee and organising local mods.
On being a councillor, she said: “I just felt it was my job. I was elected to represent the people of the islands and Oban and I wanted to make sure they had a voice in the chamber. If I wasn’t there who would speak up for them?
“It was a privilege to set up the corporate parenting board in Argyll and Bute – it allowed children and young people to be heard.
“Not as a ‘ban the bomb’ protest but with their small voices that make so much sense.”
She said: “I am completely overwhelmed at being given a BEM. This is not for me – it is for everyone who has made a difference.
“It is for my family, and for the neuro unit in Greenock who take me in once a year – give me an overhaul – and allow me to have the strength to carry on.
“I am indebted to them all.”
Conversation