Angela Mayall, known as Ang or Angie, passed away on 8 June 2024 after a sudden cancer diagnosis. As an award-winning homeworker for Designer Travel and working there for around 17 years, Angela was very well known within the travel community.
“She was so loved, so smiley and happy, that the minute you met her, you just fell in love with her. She was one of those people who was just magnetic,” says Amanda Matthews, long-time friend of Angie and co-owner of Designer Travel.
Her loss was particularly felt by her team at Designer Travel, who have since spent the past year helping to grow Angie’s legacy. “It’s really helped the team feel like they’re doing something. Particularly with the Angie Turtles, because they’re inclusive of everybody,” explains Amanda.
More than 200 toy turtles, or Angie Turtles as they’re now known, were purchased and distributed among the staff at a Designer Travel Christmas meeting in 2024. Fifty were kept aside for her family, friends, and top customers, who Amanda describes as “absolute friends” of Angie’s. Everyone with a turtle was then set the challenge of taking Angie Turtles with them on their holidays, and snapping as many photos as possible.
Amanda says: “For the year after her passing we wanted to feel like we were taking Ang with us everywhere around the world, so she could continue to travel. In a way, it’s keeping her memory alive.” The photos will be accumulated and put into a memory book for Angela’s family at the end of this year. “Her family has a turtle as well for when they travel, so it’s all to make sure her love of travel doesn’t end,” she adds.
Six weeks before she passed away, Angie visited the Maldives where she got to see turtles. “She loved to travel,” explains Amanda, “She was always away with her family or friends or with work.” So far, the turtles have seen Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Las Vegas, Spain, the Maldives, and Singapore, among many other destinations. They’ve had so many travels with the turtles in fact, that the photobook for Angie’s family will have to be selective of only the best images, explains Karen Pocock, co-owner of Designer Travel.
The turtle choice was fitting, and has since been used as a motif across the company in memory of her. Turtle costumes, mouse pads and ‘Turtle-y-tastic’ ideas have been used to make sure Ang is never far from their thoughts.
“It’s a year of remembrance,” says Karen. She explains: “It’s about creating more memories of Ang with us. It’s all about being positive, being kind, and treating people the way you want to be treated. It’s so lovely to see this legacy.”
The Angie Turtles aren’t the only way Angie’s memory is living on in the agency. Designer Travel have had trees planted in Bali and the Maldives, a water filter and a laptop given to schools in India. Colleague Lucia Campanella was on holiday with her husband to see the newly opened Iberostar Selection Es Trenc in Majorca, and arranged for a cocktail to be named after Ang.
“The team have really embraced it, which is lovely, because we all think about Ang all the time, but when you see photos on Facebook [of the turtles], it’s just nice to bring back happy memories of a very sad situation,” explains Amanda.
Karen says: “There’s an intensity in this grief, she was 55, and it’s helped in the grieving process in a really positive way.”
She adds: “I think the turtles had a lot of fun, had a lot of drinks, and really enjoyed themselves, which is exactly what Ang would have done.”
