Janet Atkinson

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of our former secretary and honorary member Janet Atkinson earlier this year.

Janet had been a member of the group since the 1980s until 2013 when she retired from the group to move to Cornwall with her family.

While she had performed on stage in the ‘80s and into the ‘90s, Janet will be fondly remembered for the tireless work she put into the group behind the scenes – as group secretary, prompt and an ever-present member of the backstage team; always a helping hand at rehearsals and when organising props – her legacy certainly lives on with a little black box she left with the group, which contains a collection of small items which may be required during the run of the show, and which is still, to this day, lovingly referred to as “Janet’s box”.

Even after retiring to Cornwall Janet still found time to help out with the local community theatre group in Senen, and still kept an active interest in the activities of Bolsover Drama Group, on occasion calling in to see our progress when back in the area – most recently at the dress rehearsal of last year’s musical ‘Sweeney Todd’.

Our thoughts go out to Janet’s family.