I am an English Literature and Drama & Theatre Studies graduate and a former Secondary School teacher with qualified teacher status. In my earlier working years whilst studying, I worked in customer-facing roles mainly within Events and Hospitality before training and working in Education. My biggest drive and passion is people - I absolutely love making genuine connections, learning about people's stories and collaborating with others to build meaning relationships to make a meaningful difference. I work at my local hospice, Weston Hospicecare, as part of the Fundraising Team. My entire life has been rooted in the South West - living in Weston-super-Mare, attending Redland High School for Girls in Bristol and, later, travelling to Bath Spa University for my undergraduate degree and PGCE - so it makes sense that I would now be working in a local village, supporting local people, at my local adult hospice! My journey in the charity sector began towards the end of 2021, coming out of the 'covid era', when I took on a temporary maternity cover contract as a Community Fundraiser. This soon became a permanent role for me, affording me the opportunity to project-manage a range of community events and awareness campaigns, as well as commence new events on behalf of Weston Hospicecare throughout 2022 and 2023. My love for charity work and fundraising grew larger as I saw the results and the impact of our work, interacted with patients, their families and our incredible supporters. In November 2023, I celebrated a new role as Fundraising & Development Officer. It is an exciting and hugely varied position which means I am able to work across all areas of the Fundraising Team. I have been able to gain more knowledge and develop professionally by undertaking more training as well as supporting my colleagues practically in all areas from Communications to Legacies.I still teach Drama skills to young people, too. I currently run an extra-curricular after school club at Inspire Theatre W-s-M once a week to KS2 students which is an equally rewarding experience. I feel very proud that my two jobs are very different, but they allow me to support local people both at the beginning of their life and at the end of their life.