By Caroline Oswald
Dorothy Ann Thompson MBE, who sadly passed away last month, was better known as, ‘Dot the Lollipop’, even to friends and family.
The ‘lollipop lady’ for St Joseph’s RC Primary School in North Shields, Dot helped children across the road to safety for 53 years. She knew all the children by name and always had a smile and time for a chat. In 1977 Dot came second in a competition to find the best lollipop person in the UK. The children admired her so much they even recorded a song about her!
Dot loved being outdoors and was always gardening at the school, at home and for friends. She was often seen cycling around Shields in the height of winter with shorts on, her bike bags heavily laden with shopping. She never bought processed food and knew all the lads on the Fish Quay by name from her visits to buy fresh fish. She would often make her way down there to the Low Lights pub from establishments further up the town such as the Top House and Charlie Robson’s.
In 2008 Dot was awarded an MBE for her road safety and charitable work. She enjoyed more publicity in 2020 when she celebrated 50 years of being a lollipop person. Dot had thought about hanging up her lollipop but the COVID-19 pandemic made her believe her ‘bairns’ needed her love and care more than ever. Dot looked after people all her life, and she had this reciprocated when she later moved into Kingfisher Care Home. Many of the people caring for her had been children that she had once helped across the road, and they all remembered her.
When Dot passed away on 13th of September, her impact on the local community was evident. Hundreds of tributes flooded in online. St Joseph’s school displayed a wreath in the form of a lollipop sign on their front gates, made by local florist, ‘Flowers from Charlotte’.
On 14th October, as the funeral procession took Dot over her old school crossing one last time, the street was lined with children clapping and displaying a banner which read, “THANK YOU DOT THE LOLLIPOP, WE LOVE YOU”.
The huge turnout was testament to how much Dot meant to the people of North Shields. £275.00 was raised for the Fishermen’s Mission and £348.81 for the local RNLI. There were more floral lollipop bouquets and everyone wore bright colours, in homage to Dot’s bold sense of style. She had revelled in dressing up and decorating her bike for the parades in the Fish Quay Festival. North Tyneside Council has dedicated a bench to Dot on the Fish Quay, a place so dear to her heart. No doubt many folk who will pause to sit there over years to come will have benefited from the guidance of Dot the Lollipop.
