The Family Ties series celebrates the family connections between staff at Radley and the sense of community this instils. It was a pleasure to talk to the Connolly family, who all work at Radley and between them have given more than 50 years of combined service to the College.
June Connolly, known as Aggie, has worked in Housekeeping since 1996 and was followed by her husband Jim who started his Caretaker role in 2010. Their twin daughters, Jemma Talbot and Kelly Abraham, joined them in the Housekeeping team in 2019.
Aggie: When the children were young I had a job cleaning in the evenings but although that worked well around childcare, it was a bit like ships passing in the night in terms of family life, so when I saw the Radley job come up in 1996, when my youngest was just starting school, I thought the hours would suit our family much better and it would mean I had the holidays off.
Jim: Jemma and Kelly are our middle two – they have an older brother and a younger brother.
Aggie: At first I joined as a ‘floating cleaner’, helping wherever was needed. That was a really good way to get to know Radley, the other cleaners and the layout of the campus. Then a vacancy came up in B Social so I started there, cleaning the bedrooms, kitchens, toilets and communal areas. Now I’m in A Social where I look after the Shell Corridor, Cocoa Room and toilets. I put the boys’ laundry in their pigeonholes and take their sewing over to the Sewing Team.
Jim: I’d been working for NORD Gear in Abingdon until I was made redundant. After that, I temped for about a year and then my wife saw the Caretaker vacancy at the College and I thought I’d apply for it as a short term measure. That was in 2010; 15 years later I’m still here! Time flies at Radley.
I’m one of three Social Caretakers, which means I look after C, D, G and H Socials. You never know what job’s coming up next! It might be changing a light bulb, fixing a piece of furniture or cleaning the carpets in the busy communal areas. When the boys are here we work every other Saturday. It’s nice in the holidays to have weekends off but we keep very busy with Lets.
Kelly: When Jemma and I left school we trained as hairdressers; we both worked at Creations in Peachcroft then we went to Snakes & Ladders for about 10 years.
Jemma: We’ve always both done the same jobs! We were supervisors at Snakes & Ladders in Abingdon. If you don’t know about Snakes & Ladders you’ve probably not had to entertain small children on a wet day! It’s a very popular soft play centre in Abingdon with slides, ball pits, a huge climbing frame and birthday party venues. We loved working there. Everyone always says about the noise and chaos but we definitely blanked it out after a few weeks.
Kelly: Although we enjoyed Snakes & Ladders it was full-time and working at weekends which was really hard to fit around family life.
Jemma: We knew the job at Radley would work well!
Kelly: I started in March 2019 – I work in the Art Department and Clocktower Court.
Jemma: I started in the June of the same year and I work in G Social which I love!
Aggie: It’s funny, our paths don’t really cross during the day. Sometimes I’ll see Jim on the buggy though.
Jemma: I see Dad all the time in G Social; I put tickets in to get him to fix things. I do that at home too though to be fair!
Jim: Luckily we all live close by to each other so I don’t mind going round to do the odd thing to help! We all live in Abingdon a few minutes’ walk from each other.
Aggie: I love it when we can go away together as a family. It was my 60th birthday this year so we rented a barn conversion and all had some time away, it was lovely!
Kelly: Jemma and I both have two boys each – they’ve grown up together so they’re really close.
Aggie: Having four grandchildren, I’ve found that my working hours at Radley still really suit me as I have time off in the holidays and can spend it with them.
Jemma: We are a close family – of course, being twins, Kelly and I are really close. We’re not identical but people do get us mixed up all the time – we’re used to it now.
Kelly: It’s got to the point where I’ll often be talking to someone and realise they think I’m Jemma but it’s easier just to go along with what they’re saying!
Jemma: And sometimes people will walk by and smile at me or say hi, thinking I’m Kelly and probably wonder why I’m blanking them!
Kelly: We had it with a boy in G Social recently. He had been talking to me and then walked round the corner and bumped into Jemma and couldn’t work out how I’d got there so quick. We had to explain!
Aggie: The relationship we build with the boys in our Social is one of the things that makes working at Radley really enjoyable. We all work on Gaudy which is good fun, serving drinks and helping out. It’s something different. I loved the 175 Festival a few years ago and before that the firework concerts that used to happen by College Pond.
Jim: I recently joined the golf club. I’ve been here 14 years and never wanted to play. All of a sudden I’ve decided to give it a go, I’m not quite sure why! It’s a great discount we get as staff so it made it worth trying and I’m really enjoying it.
Jemma: That’s true for the Leisure Club as well, it’s great. Kelly and I go to the gym…
Kelly: Together of course!
Jemma: And the kids love swimming here in the Family Swim sessions.
Aggie: People do find it surprising that all four of us work together, but there’s definitely a family feel at Radley so it’s normal to us!
