The Maia Network spoke to Sandra Freeman about her trailblazing for maternity leave at Loughborough University.

Sandra Freeman was awarded the Loughborough University Medal on 18 July as part of Loughborough’s summer graduation ceremonies. Sandra has been working as a cleaner in Domestic Services for over 50 consecutive years and received the medal on the same day her granddaughter, Molly Jackson, graduated from Loughborough. 

In 1975, Sandra, who was pregnant with her son Andrew, became a trailblazer for maternity leave at Loughborough University. 

At the time, cleaners were employed differently to other staff, and Sandra knew that she would have to leave her job and be re-employed after Andrew had been born. This would mean she wouldn’t necessarily be able to go back into the same job and that she could be placed anywhere. “I didn’t want that,” Sandra told us “I’d become part of the team and become invested in the department I was cleaning.” 

So, Sandra got in touch with her Union representative, Tom Allen, to ask why she wouldn’t be able to go back to her job after having her baby, but a secretary, for example, could. She told him about her concerns and that she wanted to go back to the same job. Tom looked into the issue and got back in touch with Sandra a few days later to tell her she would be allowed to go on maternity leave. 

However, there was still an issue with Sandra going on maternity leave. Sandra needed to be made a permanent member of staff to be able to go on maternity leave, which meant paying national insurance. But she didn’t earn enough to pay the full national insurance stamp. So, she decided to pay the full amount anyway, which was almost all of her earnings. Sandra didn’t mind too much about it though, saying “this wasn’t the object, the object was to keep my job”. 

After that, maternity leave became the norm at the University. 

1975 was an exciting year for women, as it was also the year that equal pay for women came into force, 5 years after the bill was passed. 

We asked Sandra how it feels to have made such an impact on maternity leave at the University, “It was a means to an end, because I wanted to go back to where I was. It was quite selfish really. I am an ardent feminist, believe me. Women can do anything; I’ve brought up some strong daughters. But I wasn’t doing it for the greater good at the time. But I’m glad I did it.” 

“Eventually I’m sure it would have happened. But I’m glad. If I’ve helped someone in my life, I’m glad of it. Some of the things were very unfair for women” she added. “I’ve always maintained the University are fantastic employers, I can’t think of any other organisation that looks after their employees like the University.” 

Written by Charlotte Lingham, Maia Network Comms Lead