A little bit about me

I’m the youngest of five, two brothers, two sisters… and yes, I was the “surprise”. Hey ho, here I am 😄 I grew up in the seaside town of Deal in Kent, which probably explains my love of the coast, fresh air and a good wander. As a young adult, I worked in the mental health care sector, a role I loved, but I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer and felt drawn to try something different. So, in a slight change of direction, I trained as a croupier and went on to work in a London casino dealing Roulette and Blackjack. It was there I met my husband, and not long after we moved north to his hometown of Edinburgh, where we both continued working in the casino industry. We married in Leith and bought our first home there. When we decided to start a family, I felt the pull to be closer to mine, so we headed back down the country to Kent. That’s where our two wonderful sons, Sam and Louis, were born, and we are both incredibly proud of them. My husband and I clearly suffer from a lifelong case of itchy feet. In our 35 years together, we’ve moved house more than 15 times! We’ve lived in Kent, Scotland, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, Somerset – and now Derbyshire, which we absolutely love. It’s been a real adventure, and we wouldn’t change a thing. As the boys grew up, I began my career with the NHS, where I spent 16 years working within screening services. I became manager of the newly rolled-out Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme and, for the last five years, worked within quality assurance. It was a role rooted in care, compassion and responsibility, values that are still very important to me today. Alongside all of this, I’ve been involved in amateur dramatics for over 25 years. I love being on stage, usually in a comedic role, and have organised and taken part in revues and various bits of joyful nonsense to raise money for charity. Making people laugh, feel at ease and emotionally connected has always come very naturally to me. I also like a challenge. I’ve jumped out of a plane, off a mountain, completed an Olympic-length triathlon and run the London Marathon, once is enough, thank you very much! For a long time, I knew I wanted something more, a role where I could truly make a difference to people at important moments in their lives. Becoming a celebrant feels like that role. It’s a privilege to be invited into such meaningful moments, to bring warmth, personality, comfort and joy, and to help tell people’s stories in a way that feels honest and true to them. I genuinely love what I do. It feels like a proper skill, rooted in experience, empathy and a good dose of humour, and I’m honoured to use it to support others. Thanks xx