I completed a Dip AD (BA equivalent) in Textile Design at Trent Polytechnic (became Nottingham Trent University) in 1974. The textile industry took a downturn about then so I ended up at John Player's (Imperial Tobacco) for ten years. Just after my son was born in 1984 I became a registered childminder. I was active in the National Childminding Association and helped to professionalise the sector, helping to arrange training for new minders and briefly manning a helpline.Towards the end of my career as a childminder, I started volunteering as an adult Basic Skills Tutor at New College Nottingham, gained teaching qualifications and eventually getting paid work at two training providers and a local college as a sessional Basic and Key Skills tutor. After initially doing some sessional work at Wheelbase, I finally joined the organisation in 2000 as Curriculum Manager setting up the accredited educational provision and gaining two National Training Awards for the organisation in 2005 and 2009. I also led Wheelbase into becoming an independent school. We had a great deal of success with progressing young people, sometimes with extremely challenging behaviour, into positive outcomes - one memorable young man into an apprenticeship with Ferrari. Unfortunately, the organisation was not responsive enough to the changing economic climate and was forced to close just before Christmas 2014.
Listed skills include Teaching, Curriculum Design, Staff Development, Training, and 17 others.