'Mum-of-Stamshaw' lollipop lady gets huge cheer as she retires after 17 years of service

Marilyn Hogger, 79, has served as a crossing attendant outside Stamshaw Junior School for more than seven years and before that served outside Stamshaw Infant School for almost a decade.

Now she is set to hang up her Stop sign and become ‘a lady of leisure’, after receiving a huge round of applause and almost a dozen bouquets from appreciative families gathered outside the junior school.

The great-grandmother-of-five said the part of the job she will miss the most is spending so much time with the school children.

She said: ‘Today has been wonderful – I have felt like a star. I was waiting for the red carpet.

‘I thought I would crack up.’

She added: ‘My husband is a lollipop man in Northern Parade. He’s still working and there’s no plans for him to retire.

‘He wants me to be a lady of leisure.’

Mum Tanya Stevens, whose nine-year-old son attends the school, helped set up a balloon arch around the school gates to make Marilyn’s last day extra special.

The Target Road resident said: ‘She’s just wonderful. She loves the children and they love her back.

‘She’s the best lollipop lady in the world – she’s the mum that everyone needs, she is the mum of Stamshaw.’

Portsmouth City Council is advertising for a replacement crossing attendant, according to headteacher Rob Jones.

The headteacher said: ‘We’re sad to see her go. She is the font of all knowledge about what goes on in Stamshaw.

‘She knows all the children, all the families – and even all the drivers.

‘An advert for her replacement has gone out – it’s big boots to fill.’

But Marilyn will be back – inside the school rather than standing outside it, as she will volunteer one afternoon a week to support school trips and children’s reading practice.

She added: ‘I will probably come out more educated than the children.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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