I was born and raised in Yorkshire, only leaving to go to university, where I met my future husband, so after completing my degree in psychology I started a family rather than pursue a career. After two children and a few house moves around the country we settled in the Bury St Edmunds area.

 

As the children were growing up and we had no plans to move away, I gained my nursing qualification and started working at the West Suffolk Hospital. After gaining experience on a medical ward, I transferred to the Cardiac Care Unit, proceeding to complete a specialist course in cardiac nursing.

 

Over my 17 years in cardiac nursing I have seen many changes in the treatment of heart conditions, and seen the development of care offered to local people with the opening of the new Cardiac Centre. However, I have often regretted the fact we see people when they are very unwell, without knowing how, or even if, they recover, so it was a wonderful experience to visit an exercise session and see people exercising, chatting to friends, and being supported in various ways without a clinical area in sight! This led me to join Upbeat and support people in a different way to a hospital environment.

 

My two children are now adults with children of their own. I enjoy spending time with them locally and in Devon, where my son and his family live. This year will see both children get married, so I am looking forward to those two events, along with the arrival of another grandbaby. My husband and myself own a 3 year old dog, and we enjoy camping holidays in the UK (although we cheat a bit with a campervan rather than tent). I enjoy regular dog walks and swimming to try and keep fit. Indoors I enjoy cooking, knitting, and curling up with a good horror story.