2001 COUNCILLOR JOHN ALLEN
(RETIRED HOSIERY RETAILER)
(543)
The Lord Mayor was born in St John's Nursing Home, London Road, Leicester on 11 June 1939 and was educated at St John's Junior School, Avenue Road and the Wyggeston Boy's Grammar School
He served a hosiery apprenticeship from 1956 to 1961 with Messrs Newby, Groves and Meakin, a local firm of high quality underwear and fancy hosiery manufacturers. During 1961 he joined his father's retail firm Ideal Stalls Ltd of Leicester. The firm specialised in underwear, hosiery and nightwear and operated market stalls and shops in ten Midland cities and five towns.
He married Miss Jill Lucas at St Andrew's Parish Church, Countesthorpe on 12 September 1964. They had two children, a son Simon and a daughter Susan.
Councillor Allen joined the Conservative Party in 1973. He was the Chairman of the East Leicester Conservative Association in 1978 and in 1983 became the Agent for Peter Bruinvels, Member of Parliament for Leicester East from 1983 to 1987.
Initially, he was elected to the Leicester City Council in 1983 as Councillor for the newly-formed Thurncourt ward and represented the ward until 1995. He was re-elected to the Council in 1996 and 1999 for Thurncourt Ward.
Councillor Allen served on all the major Council Committees, his main interest being in housing and he held the position of Shadow Chair on the Housing Committee where he was the Conservative Group's spokesman on housing matters.
He served as a School Governor of Thurnby Lodge Primary School from 1984 and at Willowbrook Primary School from 1985 onwards. In addition, he was a Governor of Trinity Hospital and the North Memorial Homes, Oadby.
Councillor Allen's interests were varied and included a passion for sport; he played rugby football for Westleigh Rugby Football Club and cricket for the Old Wyggestonians. Other pursuits consisted of ornithology and gardening. He was a Freemason and a Past Master of the Commercial Lodge in Leicester.
He was appointed Deputy Lord Mayor of the city on 18 May 2000 for the year 2000/2001.
Councillor Allen was elected to the office of Lord Mayor of the City on 17 May 2001.
He chose his wife Jill to be his Lady Mayoress. Mrs Allen, who was born in Enderby, Leicestershire, attended Primary and Junior Schools in Enderby and Countesthorpe before going to Lutterworth Grammar School, She trained at Leicester Royal Infirmary before becoming a State Registered Nurse and left her profession when the children were born, she later returned to nursing at Leicester General Hospital. The Lady Mayoress also spent seven years as a Home Care Assistant with the City Social Services Department and undertook voluntary work with the Women's Royal Voluntary Service.
Councillor Allen had the distinction of meeting three members of the Royal Family during his Year of Office. On 23 May 2001, he was presented to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal when, as Patron of Leicester Cathedral £2 Million Millennium Appeal, she officially opened the new Leicester Cathedral Centre at 21 St Martin's. On 24 July 2001, the Lord Mayor met His Royal Highness The Duke of York when he unveiled the plaque to commemorate his visit to the National Space Centre in Exploration Drive.
He welcomed Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester to the City on 13 September 2001 when she opened the Evington Centre on Gwendolen Road. The Lord Mayor met His Royal Highness The Duke of York on a second occasion when he paid his first visit to the East Midlands in his new role as Britain's International Trade Ambassador on 27 November 2001. His Royal Highness visited the firm of B S Atwell & Company, Wholesale Knitwear Manufacturers and Distributors, 14 Cannock Street on the Troon Industrial Estate.
Twinning links were further strengthened with Civic Visits to Strasbourg and Krefeld in the autumn of 2001. A delegation from Krefeld paid a four-day visit to Leicester in April 2002. The Lord Mayor gave a Civic Reception at the Town Hall, for his visitors and, on 5 April, he hosted a Civic Dinner in the City Rooms in honour of the Oberburgemeister of Krefeld, Herr Dieter Putzofen and the delegation who visited the Jain Centre and the National Space Centre, whilst in the city.
A group of students from the Baxian Middle School, Chonqing and a party of tax officers from the Chinese city were also received by Councillor Allen at the Town Hall.
During his Year of Office, the Lord Mayor received numerous other visitors to the Town Hall. He welcomed the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bradford, Councillor and Mrs Ghazanfer Kaliq to Leicester, on 13 August 2001, following the riots in the northern city. Councillor Allen and his civic guest visited the Berners Street Mosque which marked the first ever visit by two Lord Mayors to the Mosque. A return visit to Bradford was made by the Lord Mayor on 14 May 2002.
Other visitors to the Town Hall included the Honourable Marsha Thompson MP, Minister for Small Businesses, Government of Victoria, Australia, members of the Ghana Mission and the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom. In addition there were visits by a number of professors and many students from Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Visits made by the Lord Mayor included attending a reception by the Ambassador of Ireland, at the Irish Embassy, 17 Grosvenor Place, London and a visit to the Lord Mayor of Nottingham.
The Lord Mayor was privileged to preside over two ceremonies held to mark the presentation of the Honorary Freedom of the City of Leicester. Firstly, to the entire Leicester Football Club (Leicester Tigers), on 8 December 2001, at the club's Aylestone Road ground following the victory against Bristol by 26-19.
The award acknowledged the team's unique treble success in season 2000/01 when they won Rugby's Zurich Premiership and Championship and the Heineken European Cup. This was the first occasion upon which the City of Leicester had honoured any club in this way.
Three days later, on 11 December, the Lord Mayor conferred the Honorary Freedom upon Rosemary Conley and Dr Frank Ephraim May MBE, in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall. The evening was followed by a Civic Reception at the Guildhall. Leicester born Rosemary Conley was nominated for the honour in recognition of her contribution to encouraging the nation towards healthy living.
The author of over twenty books on diet and fitness, she successfully launched a nationwide franchise business - Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs, based at Quorn, Leics.
Dr Frank May, a retired local businessman, was one of the city's notable philanthropists. He received recognition by virtue of his outstanding contribution and generosity in a number of areas which included support for the Medical School at the University of Leicester, the Attenborough Centre for Disability, equipment and teaching aids for Groby Road Hospital and the Leicester Royal Infirmary and as a patron of the Arts.
The three conferments brought the number of Honorary Freedoms accorded by the City of Leicester, to 37 in total since the passing of the Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 gave Leicester, and other Boroughs, the power to grant the awards.
On 26 June 2001 the Lord Mayor attended a Farewell Eucharist at Leicester Cathedral, for the retiring Assistant Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend William J. D. Down. The following evening, Councillor Allen hosted a Civic Dinner in honour of the Assistant Bishop at the Belmont House Hotel.
The Lord Mayor hosted a Civic Dinner, in the City Rooms, on 5 September 2001 in honour of the Very Reverend Michael Dunn OP, the Prior of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church before he relinquished his appointment upon leaving the City.
On 7 February 2002, Councillor Allen gave a Civic Dinner in honour of the Right Reverend William McMahon, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham.
On 23 January 2002, the Lord Mayor hosted a Civic Dinner, at the City Rooms, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the University of Leicester.
The City's military connections were maintained with a four-day visit by the Lord Mayor to the 16th Signal Regiment at the Rheindalan Garrison near Krefield during July 2001. Seven months later, on 2 February 2002, Councillor Allen met soldiers of the regiment at the Town Hall, following a 10 day challenging Triathlon in which they ran, machine-rowed and cycled a distance of 527 miles from their base in Germany to Leicester in aid of the Lord Mayor's charity. The Lord Mayor hosted a Civic Reception, at the Town Hall, for the soldiers followed by an evening meal at the Belmont House Hotel.
Leicester's links with the Senior Service were upheld when Councillor Allen attended a Royal Navy Submarine Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving which was held at Westminster Abbey on 2 November 2001.
On 28 February 2002, the Lord Mayor hosted a Civic Dinner, at the City Rooms for General Sir Michael Walker, the Colonel of the Royal Anglian Regiment.
On the sporting front Councillor Allen gave a Civic Reception for Fyffes Leicester Hockey Club, at the Town Hall, on 3 September 2001. He presented the Club Captain, Jo Mould with an engraved rose bowl to commemorate the Club's success in winning the English Hockey League's Premier Division and gaining a place in European Competition in 2002.
It was the Lord Mayor's wish to undertake as many visits as he possible could during his year of office and resulted in him fulfilling 819 engagements. His visits included 61 to Houses of Faith, 50 to schools within the city, to 6 people who were celebrating having attained their 100th birthday plus 176 sporting events.
The Lord Mayor chose to encourage sport and leisure activities and launched his Spirit of Sport Appeal upon taking office. The idea for the Appeal was actually put forward by the Lady Mayoress. The aim was to allocate the funds, generated by the Appeal, equally between sporting projects in the community and the East Midlands Initiative Trust (EMIT), an organisation which offered opportunities in sport and leisure for people with learning difficulties. The total amount raised, which was supported by other charities, was £108,000.
Councillor Allen's Year of Office was concluded on 16 May 2002.
On 22 May 2003 he was appointed High Bailiff of the City for the year 2003/2004.
