About me

I am a Rotherham Metropolitan Bororough Councillor, elected in May 2016. I am one of three Labour representatives of Rother Vale Ward and I work closely with my colleagues Leon Allcock and Bob Walsh to do our very best for the people of Rother Vale and make positive contributions to Rotherham as a whole.

I am a lifelong resident of Rotherham and I went to Wickersley Comprehensive School (now Wickersley School and Sports College) before going away to the University of Durham to study Archaeology. I returned back home upon my graduation. After over a year of despair and unemployment from having graduated in the global financial crisis, I found my first ‘real’ job under Labour’s Future Jobs Fund. (That is aside from working at 16 whilst still in school in Rotherham Central Library!)

This job was with the South Yorkshire Women’s Development Trust and it kickstarted my passion for working in the Voluntary and Community Sector. Since then I have worked in another community development trust in Sheffield; at Voluntary Action Rotherham, where I was embedded in local community engagement and development; as a teacher in a vocational sixth form in Sweden; and most recently I work in Higher Education at the University of Leeds in communications for the Cities Research Theme, after a few years in International Market Development at the university.

Please see my linkedin profile for more details of my career history if you’re interested.

So why did I become a councillor? I want to use my skills and time working positively for my community and hometown. I intend for my contribution to bring fresh enthusiasm and new ideas to the council, compassion for my community and a willingness to learn. My values are embedded in Labour but I represent everyone in my community acting with integrity, openness and objectivity to do the best possible job that I can.

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