Plaque honours activist who helped those in need

5 hours ago

Catherine LeeNorth East and Cumbria

News image — The plaque is on the site of the club Johnny Rafferty set up, with Mayor John Newton saying it was a "recognition of his contribution"

Maryport Town Council The front of a coffee shop, the glass doors of which are plastered with signs stating opening hours, advertising take away, quiz, and various safety notices. The figure of an owl is etched in the centre. To the right is a smiling man, with receding grey hair and a grey beard, wearing a chain of office over a brown anorak type coat, dark trousers. His right arm is raised pointing to a round blue plaque affixed next to the door. — The plaque is on the site of the club Johnny Rafferty set up, with Mayor John Newton saying it was a "recognition of his contribution"

An activist described as "a hero" has been honoured by a blue plaque at the site of a club he set up to help those in need.

Johnny Rafferty arrived in Maryport, Cumbria, in 1921 and for 50 years until his death fought for workers' rights and support for the unemployed.

The plaque installed by the town council is on the site of the club he set up on Senhouse Street in the 1930s, offering the unemployed cheap meals and entertainment such as films, darts and dominoes.

The town's mayor John Newton said: "In the eyes of many who remember him, Johnny Rafferty was a hero - [this] is a recognition of his contribution to the town."

According to Maryport Town Council, Rafferty arrived as an itinerant beggar from Scotland during the Depression years and went on to become leader of the Maryport branch of the Communist Party.

He was instrumental in focusing national attention on unemployment and was a major factor in the appointment of the first special commissioner to address the problems of the area, where the rate was much higher than the likes of Jarrow and Merthyr Tydfil.

Maryport Town Council Head shot of a middle aged man with thinning grey hair. He is wearing an open-necked white shirt over a black top and squinting as if in strong sunlight. The colour and quality of the photo suggest it is several decades old. — Johnny Rafferty was a life-long member of the Communist Party and is said to have attended a May Day Parade in Russia

In the 1930s, he turned John Hardy's chemist shop - now the site of Redby Coffee - into the unlicensed Unemployed Workers Movement Club, offering cheap meals and entertainment.

During World War Two it became a place where servicemen could get a meal, a bath and a bed, free of charge.

Rafferty became the only communist to serve on Maryport Urban District Council, which he did for 10 years until 1946, due to an extended term during the war.

When he died in 1971, the funeral attracted mourners from across the country, mostly communist sympathisers, but it is said half of the town stood on their doorsteps to salute the funeral cortege as it passed.

Maryport Town Council Close up of a round blue plaque stating in white capital letters: For Johnny Rafferty the man fondly remembered by everyone because he was always there. — The plaque marks his commitment to those in need

Mayor John Newton said: "Johnny Rafferty was a well-known member of the Maryport community, remembered by many for his generosity and support for the poor and needy.

"At a time when the industrial base had collapsed, his arrival in the area coincided with the Great Depression, a period where there was desperation in the population.

"He was instrumental in focusing national attention on unemployment and was a major factor in the appointment of the first special commissioner to address the problems of the area.

"In the eyes of many who remember him, Johnny Rafferty was a hero."

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