Mrs Harper attended the monthly service of prayers at the cathedral before visiting Mary Sumner’s grave in Paradise, outside the east end. She then took refreshments with MU members in the Wessex Learning Centre.
The Mothers’ Union is the biggest Anglican aid partnership organisation, which transforms the lives of women and their families across the world – and it all started here in Hampshire, with Mary Sumner.
Canon Roland Riem, Vice-Dean of the Cathedral, who welcomed all those attending the service, including the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Winchester, said, ‘Having Mrs Harper with us in the Cathedral and the Close underlines the worldwide nature of the movement that started right here in 1876, and reminds us all of the courage and conviction of Mary Sumner and her associates.’
