JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: SPUC activist to be honoured by MP and mayor

Wednesday 23 January 2008

SPUC activist to be honoured by MP and mayor

A pro-life activist is to receive an award for her work for SPUC in Leicestershire. Mrs Frances Levett, treasurer of SPUC's Rutland and Melton branch, will receive a Community and Charity Champion award from Mr Alan Duncan, Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton, and Councillor Pam Posnett, mayor of Melton, tomorrow.

Mrs Levett's citation for the award mentions that she has been a member of SPUC since 1972. As well as helping run the Melton branch, she has helped found other local branches. Mrs Levett ran a study-day on post-abortion syndrome for more than 80 people at Glenfield Hospital, and was among the organisers of an SPUC float at the Melton Show parade. The award is supported by the Melton Times newspaper.

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.