I am a 72 year old retired social worker and prior to retirement had worked for Tameside Social Services for 24 years. I always worked with children and their families, specialising in adoption and fostering and was a post-adoption counsellor for adult adoptees wishing to access their birth records. During a long career, fairness and justice always ranked highly with me especially when advocating for children in court.
I first started attending Holy Trinity Church in 1990 at a time when the church was being re-ordered to provide a community facility for those living in the neighbourhood, many of whom were from ethnic minority groups. I soon became appreciative of the effort the church was making to achieve a degree of community cohesion in the area and when appointed Church Treasurer, I made many successful grant applications to further the work being done out of the Community Centre. I therefore had no hesitation in joining the Holy Trinity Church and Community Centre Committee when the church effectively closed and was proactive during the Big Lottery application by writing the case studies for the Evaluation Report. I am delighted with the success of the application and will continue to support our current People, Place and Presence Project – empowering women in the area.
In addition to sitting on the HTCCC Committee, I am also a prison visitor, attend a group called “Growing Old Disgracefully” (set up in the late 1950’s to empower older women!) and I am an avidly keen genealogist.