The Dame Allan’s 1705 Magazine
Dame Allan’s encouraged me to just follow my passions We caught up with Allanian Jen Jones about her memories of Dame Allan’s sport, her multifaceted career path, and finding her passion in floristry.
I have such happy memories of my time at Dame Allan’s, it was mainly having some great friendships, playing lots of sports and generally enjoying all my different subjects. Mrs Donald and Mrs Rickaby in the sports department were absolutely key to my Dame Allan’s journey. I also really loved my English lessons with Mrs Brown, who sparked my interest in English Literature. I absolutely loved sports and anything co-curricular. I played with some amazing girls, and loved nothing more than competing against other teams in the Dame Allan’s uniform. I was captain of the hockey team, went to the National Championships with the athletics team, played on the netball team, and regularly played tennis and swam for Dame Allan’s. There was nothing I didn’t want to participate in. I went on some amazing tours, particularly to Canada to play netball which was an amazing experience. The excitement of sewing another colours badge onto my red sash was the best! My introduction to hockey by Mrs Donald and Mrs Rickaby really did change my life. Having never picked up a hockey stick before Year 7, I soon fell in love, captaining the County team and playing for the North East Regional academy. It also had a massive impact on my decision to go on to study Sports Science at Loughborough University and play hockey alongside my studies. I think Dame Allan’s gave me the confidence to give things a go and not be afraid to try something different. I also felt that I was able to have different sides to me, as someone who loved art, English and sport, I was able to explore lots of different subjects in depth, with lots of opportunities in all subject areas. Dame Allan’s encouraged me to just follow my passions, choosing subjects that I was interested in rather than having a specific career path in mind. This is partly why I have worked as a PE teacher, NHS manager and now a Florist! I wouldn’t change anything because I have enjoyed each new experience, and I really feel like all of my skills are being brought together in the work I do now.
As part of my day job, I run a wedding business with my Mum called Jones & Jones Flowers, which we started at the beginning of 2021. Since it started, we have won North East Wedding Florist of the Year, and a Silver-Gilt medal at Chelsea Flower Show for a floral lamp post that we designed and made, which was an amazing experience. We do around 40 weddings a year at a variety of amazing venues across the North East, including Newcastle Cathedral, Bamburgh Castle, Newton Hall, Wylam Brewery and many others. We have also worked on some amazing corporate events for customers like Rolex and Harrods. There was a really exciting period In September last year when we acquired the Newcastle and Gosforth branches of Katherine’s Florists, after the previous owners decided to retire. This was a really exciting moment for me in my career, having grown up in Newcastle and knowing that they are such a well regarded and historic name - they’ve been in business since 1970, originating in the Grainger Market. I now manage 19 staff members including florists, administrators and drivers. My day-to-day life is extremely varied! I still like to do some floristry when I can, so I will often help with some of the more complex corporate events, funerals or weddings. We do on average between 40-50 deliveries a day all across the North East and we also have some really exciting corporate clients, such as Newcastle United, Malmaison, Newcastle and Northumbria Universities. Our staff really enjoy creating bouquets, especially for NUFC - they normally take it in turns to do the deliveries so they can meet the players - one of the perks of the job!
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