Featherstone Wood lollipop lady retires after 32 years

Julie Bennet helped kids at Featherstone Wood primary school for 32 years but enjoyed a “special” shift on Friday (October 25).

Dozens of children, parents, and grandparents wished Julie good luck and told her how much she would be missed, while her own son, Rob, paid a surprise visit with the grandkids.

Julie Bennet with her grandchildren Harry and Darcy. (Image: Rob Bennett) Julie said: “I didn’t think he was coming but he and his wife came with my two grandchildren, who are eight years old - with cake, some presents, and a bottle of champagne.

“They made it really special.”

The grandchildren ended up being the final kids the 71-year-old would help across Shephall Way. It capped off a career which even saw her stopping traffic for the children of former pupils she had done the same for decades earlier.

Julie Bennet with her son Rob Bennett. (Image: Rob Bennett)

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The best parts about being a lollipop lady, Julie says, are seeing children grow up as well as “just meeting people and building up a friendship with them”.

“You just feel like you are doing a good job,” she added.

(Image: Rob Bennett) Holidays may come next year now that she is “free of the clock after all these years”, but first there are apparently lots of jobs around the house that need doing over the busy Christmas period.

(Image: Rob Bennett)