I am profoundly Deaf and bilingual in English and British Sign Language and a cochlear implant user. I have had a 18 year career in the Civil Service with a range of government departments. I was involved in the creation of two new National Parks for the New Forest and South Downs and the establishment of National Park Authorities to manage those new parks. I was a participant in Defra’s four year Into Leadership Development Programme. These experiences have given me a thorough understanding of Government and Local Government processes and procedures and I have business skills in finance, HR, programme and project management, recruitment, town planning and conservation ecology. In recent years, I have been a Trustee of West of England Centre for Inclusive Living and run two Deaf and Disability Careers Fairs in partnership with the Mayor of London and the Bristol Northwest Parliamentary Constituency Office whilst a voluntary Programme Manager with Deaf Unity. I was very active during the pandemic involved in the processing of COVID19 data to support the Government’s response to the pandemic.
