This Is Your Life: Joyce Pearce

Joyce PEARCE MBE (1915-1985)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Joyce Pearce, charity founder, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews - with the help of Peter Ustinov - at the New London Theatre, having been led to believe she was there to launch a new campaign for the Year of the Child.

Joyce, who was born in Woking, began her career in 1942 teaching history at Mitchum County School. In 1951, she persuaded Woking Council to sponsor a holiday for displaced Eastern European teenagers at her home, Ockenden House. This endeavour served as the stimulus for her and two teaching colleagues to create the Ockenden Venture as a registered charity, providing safe accommodation and a future for refugees arriving in Britain.

Joyce gave up her teaching career as the organisation grew, particularly following the establishment of World Refugee Year in 1959. Initially focusing on children displaced and orphaned by the Second World War, the charity's remit extended to rescuing thousands of victims of war and oppression all over the world, from the Hungarian refugees in the 1950s to the Vietnamese 'Boat People' in the 1970s, providing them with new hope and a new start in life.

programme details...

Edition No: 519
Subject No: 516
Broadcast date: Wed 11 Apr 1979
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 4 Apr 1979
Venue: New London Theatre
Series: 19
Edition: 25
Code name: Justice

on the guest list...

Judith Stone
Lord Michael Burkitt
Major Michael Parker
Peter Ustinov
seven Nguyen children
three Vietnamese children
Daniel
Veronica
Janka Stuttard
Sarte
Dace
Maije
Herkules
Margaret Dixon
Ruth Hicks
Juliette Arnold
Olga Steffenhagen
Oonagh Guyonnet
Jill Buxton
Dr Christopher Woodard
Ngoc
Kim Chi
Thuy
Minh
Lan
Tashi Topgyal
Genyen Choeden

production team...

Researcher: Vivien Lind
Writer: Bob Tyrrell
Directors: Royston Mayoh, Terry Yarwood
Producer: Jack Crawshaw

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

A Charitable Life

the unsung heroes

Magic Book That Opens New Chapters Of Life

TV Times feature on 'The Unsung Heroes'

Peter Ustinov

Screenshots of Joyce Pearce This Is Your Life

Pamela Watkin recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in her book, Joyce's Ockenden - The Story of a Vision that became a Venture for Refugees...

Thirty years later, Janina and Herkules were among people celebrating Joyce's story on the television programme This Is Your Life.

Though Joyce had co-operated in a similar programme about Sue Ryder, she was shocked and embarrassed to be confronted herself at the entrance to the National Theatre by Eamonn Andrews, complete with large red folder and microphone, and driven to a television studio.

[Bigredbook.info editor: Joyce was actually surprised at the New London Theatre, where the programme was recorded]

She had just had an abscess lanced and it was painful to smile. Worse still, though she was in evening dress, having expected to appear on stage with Peter Ustinov to talk about refugees, she had no time to take off her winter boots.

All the same, how wonderful to be reunited with some of her refugees! Herkules' father had recovered, allowing his whole family to emigrate. Now, Herkules was a member of an American orchestra. On behalf of all the refugees, Herkules said that their first holiday in England had opened a window onto the world.

Series 19 subjects