Shirley Collins, MBE and Gold Badge holder, was elected the fourth President of the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 2008. Her long association with EFDSS dates back to 1950s, when she moved to London from her Sussex birthplace and started folk song research at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Shirley has appeared on the stages at Cecil Sharp House numerous times, most recently for her own 80th birthday concert in 2015 with Billy Bragg and Eliza Carthy.
Since becoming President Shirley has supported our work through her advocacy and by attending EFDSS events. In 2012 she wrote about EFDSS’ ‘My Croydon, My Song’ schools project: “I attended the performance at Fairfield Halls this morning, and just want to let you know how much I enjoyed it... the achievement of the EFDSS team was considerable.”
In 2013 Shirley was guest of honour at the launch of The Full English digital archive, where she literally pressed the button to launch this incredible archive of 11 seminal collections of folk material (photograph here by Roswitha Chesher).
And it not just publicly that Shirley has supported EFDSS. She has also helped behind the scenes, particularly with fundraising efforts, encouraging donations and legacies from members and providing endorsements for funding applications.
We are most grateful for all her work and encouragement over the years, and we wish her the very best for the future. EFDSS is now on the hunt for a new President to fill some pretty big shoes.
There will be a full interview with Shirley in the autumn (September) edition of English Dance & Song magazine.
