Songwriter wins "Canadian Grammy" for music inspired by Ferguslie Park nun

dailyrecord.co.uk:

By Loudon TempleA heroic Buddie dedicated to helping those in need has been unveiled as the inspiration for an album that has just won the biggest music honour Canada can offer – a Juno.The annual award - the country’s equivalent to a Grammy – recognises excellence across a variety of categories.And the 2022 Folk Album of The Year went to song-writer Maria Dunn, whose Joyful Banner Blazing album and title track celebrates the life of her aunt, Sister Cecily Dunn.A nun who started out serving in Paisley’s Ferguslie Park, Sister Dunn was dedicated to supporting families living in deprivation.Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here.Maria - who moved to Canada with her Glaswegian parents as a child - learned all about her aunt’s lifelong crusade to help young people from troubled backgrounds.In her family, Sister Cecily had earned herself legendary status.“I wrote the song as a tribute to her and her message to the youth she worked with,” she said. “That is ‘You are young, you are precious, you are loved’.”The cover of the album is also dedicated to her well-loved aunt, represented playfully as a flying nun – a nickname given to her while working in London.Maria added: “She was described as a ‘joyful troublemaker’ and stories from her years in London, tell how she would ride around on her scooter, going into businesses and pubs to cajole people into supporting the youth programmes that she was so passionate about and working to build in their communities.“Her life’s work was spent empowering youth and their families, and the longest spell she had in one place was later when serving in the Bermondsey area.”It was as a young woman in the 1970s that she answered the calling to