ABOUT

A bit about me

In my teens I had long chats with a local man selling the Big Issue on the high street and I volunteered on a steering group of young people at a local counselling centre for under 25s (before I had ever heard the word ‘co-production’). At university I spent my evenings listening to people who phoned Nightline to have someone to talk to, my late nights sharing food with people sleeping rough on my way home, and my days volunteering as a Housing Advisor at Shelter.

While I never really had (and still don’t have) an answer to ‘what do you want to do when you grow up?’, I look back now and it’s pretty clear that caring about what happens to people and how we treat each other has always been a constant for me.

I have now spent 20 years working with people who have experienced trauma, poverty and other forms of structural inequality in society, working alongside organisations that challenge injustice and inspire change. I’ve held roles directly supporting people, and I’ve held senior leadership positions, including overseeing hostels, community support teams, communications, volunteers and business development. I’ve also been on boards of trustees of some incredible organisations, and I have held a Public Duty through the Home Office as a member of the Independent Monitoring Board of an immigration removal centre.

Outside of work, I am always up for a conversation about books (huge lover of fiction, non-fiction and poetry), parenting (and the highs and lows thereof), and travel.