How 'Queen of Ely' turned hardship into lifelong mission of kindness

INSIDE the Ely Hub, where people drop in for advice, warmth or simply a familiar face, the real character of the community comes into focus.

- Joseph Gough reports

And at the centre of it all is the woman many here credit with changing their lives - Donna Hurley is affectionately known as the “Queen of Ely”.

The title makes her wince, but her colleagues insist it fits. “In a nutshell,” says Hywel Price, “she’s supported a lot of people - and she still does. She’s passionate, she genuinely cares, and you can see it in everything she does.”

Rebecca Norman puts it even more plainly: “She helps everyone. Everyone knows her. She's helped people set up businesses, get on their feet. Her hairdresser and nail tech? Both women she helped into work.”

Donna laughs off the praise, but her life shaped by hardship, humour, resilience and service - mirrors the true spirit of Ely: ordinary people doing extraordinary things for one another.

Donna was born in 1962 and raised in Ely and still lives in the same house today. “I'm a bit like a boomerang,” she laughs.

She grew up in a tight-knit family: Donna’s mother was from a huge Catholic family “Ten doors up my mother was born - she had 13 sisters, three brothers. I had a lot of aunties and uncles on my street.”

Donna's father was a Londoner who moved to Ely after the war.

“He was extremely intelligent. He won a scholarship to Emmanuel’s ... and was a television engineer,” Donna explained.

Ely in the 1960s and 1970s was vibrant and multicultural, and Donna thrived in it. “Always a street urchin - I loved being out,” she said.

New families fascinated her. “Mam would say, you mustn’t go in there ... but I would”, said Donna, talking about her neighbours’ homes. We had Greek families, Spanish, Italian ... I found people interesting from a very young age.”

But home wasn’t easy. Her father was strict and set rigid roles.

“Academics were for a boy. I would take the role of the woman,” she remembers. But she adapted quickly. “I learned how to climb out of windows. Children are resilient.”