I was chair of governors at Nether Edge primary school and joined the Mercia Trust Board when the school joined the trust in 2015.

My background is in the health sector and I had a varied career in the NHS spanning more than twenty years.  I initially trained as a technician in hospital and research laboratories.  I later moved into Clinical Audit, a field that became part of the emerging Clinical Governance framework, the aim of which was to ensured a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of care throughout the NHS.  My experience in this area has been particularly beneficial in my role as a MAT Trustee and School Governor as there are many parallels with current initiatives in the education sector, for example in encouraging professionals to use research to inform practice, to assess and monitor their own practice and to lead improvements.

After a short spell in IT working on a Trust wide short term project I moved into NHS Management as head of the hospital Trust's administrative department of approx 200 staff across six sites.  Major challenges included preparing for relocation of a major hospital to a new site and the introduction of new Trust wide IT systems.

I have three children.  My youngest is disabled and I became his carer, prompting a reappraisal of career and life goals.  Leaving work meant I was able to volunteer with disability charities and sign up for an archaeology course at Sheffield University – a long held interest that I had never had time to pursue.  That short part-time course eventually led to a BSc and I graduated in 2018.