Our Mags

Margaret and her dear daughter Hazel, introduced me to their favorite cafe in a garden center. Wonderful day with great memories.

•  Widow issues a rallying cry for the public's help in fight for better health services

• Telfer appointed to The Inverclyde Joint Integration Board

• Margaret Telfer prepares to step down after 10 years as the Chair of the Inverclyde Anti-Knife Group

• Group confronts Scottish Parliament over the Anti-knife campaign.

These are just a few of the many headlines about my first cousin once removed. She was my favorite advocate.

Margaret Constance Telfer (Mags) died on the evening of June 17 at the age of 83. She had been in fragile health for the last couple years and had recently moved to a care home, Alt-Na-Craig House, in her hometown of Greenock.

Margaret’s Welsh father, Haydn and my grandfather, Bert were brothers. While she and I were of different generations, she was born late in her parents’ marriage, and we were only eight years apart in age.

This 2019 article from the Greenock Telegraph tells Mag's story.

A GREENOCK woman who has devoted her life to fighting for better health services since the tragic death of her husband has issued a rallying cry for the public's help.

Campaigner Margaret Telfer has fearlessly made her voice heard for the last 26 years, and she is as determined as ever to make sure that the powers-that-be listen to local people.

Along with fellow Your Voice community care forum member Margaret Tait, she is calling for more people to get involved to improve health and care services in Inverclyde.

The pair want to address issues like poor public transport links and the future of key services.

Retired teacher Margaret, 76, said: "Fighting for health services is my passion; it is something I feel so strongly about .

"I lost my husband Douglas aged 52 in 1993 after a kidney transplant in the Western Infirmary - he died from blood clots.

"He should never have died, the aftercare and everything was all wrong.

"He had polycystic kidney disease, and my daughter has it as well - I couldn't let that happen to her, so I decided to do something about it."

Mrs. Telfer started campaigning for kidney patients before becoming involved in setting up the community care forum, which later became Your Voice.

And Margaret’s impact on health in Inverclyde did not end there. She was appointed to represent the public on the influential Inverclyde Integrated Joint Board, which was responsible for a £150m health and social care budget.

Through her work on the Board, local communities across Inverclyde were able to bid for funding for projects to directly benefit their own neighborhoods.

Per press accounts, “Margaret (was) keen to make sure as many people as possible (had) their say.”

Our Mags was involved in countless other initiatives, including the successful anti-knife crime campaign led by Inverkip man John Muir MBE. Muir’s crusade was based on the loss of his son to knife violence and Margaret’s selfless dedication to the cause was also family-driven. Her 15-year-old grandson nearly died after being stabbed in Greenock’s South Street in 2008.

Some people withdraw after tragedy. Others use it to fuel their fight on behalf of others.

Margaret Telfer served as the chairperson of the Inverclyde Anti-knife group for 10 years, organizing, marching, advocating before the Scottish Assembly, and always giving credit to John Muir and others.

A tripling of mandatory sentences for knife crimes and a reduction in knife related deaths can be directly traced to grassroots efforts from Greenock to Glasgow. Margaret was certainly instrumental in those trends.

Her words:

“It’s time for a change of direction, including tackling drugs and alcohol, and imaginatively thinking out of the box.”

It was impossible to keep our Mags inside the box.

Mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, cousin, teacher, advocate, and loyal friend. Her children and grandchildren have called her the heart of the family, its “main thread”. I was so very lucky to be able to visit her again last year and to meet my other cousins. Her grandson said she was “desperate” for us to meet. That’s the perfect word. That is what family meant to our Mags.

As to the name "Mags."

That was the way she always signed off her DMs to me, but I don’t think I called her that once in my life. She was always “Cousin Margaret” to our stateside family. I took the lead from my dad and my Aunt Jean.

Mags described my Aunt Jean as more of a sister than a first cousin. Eighteen years her senior, Jean Constance Borcherding, was the family correspondent. Her letter writing tied us to our Welsh and Scottish families with an unbreakable bond of love. Had it not been for Jean, we would have surely lost touch.

Margaret had her own penchant for the written word and crossed the ocean with long newsy letters to Jean. When they landed in Chicago, Jean was immediately on the phone to my mom and dad, and in later years to me. No birthday, graduation, birth, death, holiday, or achievement went undocumented. Those connections were so very important to our Mags.

As we mourn our loss, we celebrate her life. She would not want us to spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves. Our Mags would want us to get up, get going, and help someone. Tomorrow.