I have over 30 years’ experience working in the arts and heritage sector. I began my career working in Marketing and PR for regional and touring theatre companies. During 8 years in Leicester I was part of the management team which established Phoenix Arts, a new multi-media centre for the contemporary arts. This was followed by four years as Head of Marketing, Sales and Development at the Haymarket Theatre, then Leicester’s main producing theatre with an international reputation for musicals, many of which transferred to the West End.

In 1995 I moved to Sheffield as Administrative Director for Music in the Round, working with Peter Cropper, leader of the acclaimed string quartet, The Lindsays. In 10 years we grew the company and its reputation introducing a national touring circuit for chamber music, more than doubling the company’s turnover and increasing its annual concert programme from 50 to 120 events each year.

Since 2005 I have worked as a freelance fundraiser with an eclectic range of clients from large arts organisations to small parish councils and from welfare charities to choirs. As a passionate Sheffielder, I am proud of my involvement in the £340,000 redevelopment of Endcliffe Park Playground, in one of the City’s key destination parks. As the lead bid-writer for this community led group, I secured a major National Lottery grant, numerous grants from trusts and foundations and even an Arts Council England grant to commission an artist designed 'frame' (not a fence) to go around the space and a suite of songs for Sheffield Young Singers which celebrated all things Sheffield and was performed at the playground’s opening ceremony. Other small capital projects have included the refurbishment of a scout hut and a children’s playground (this project achieved 100% success for the applications submitted).

Most of my current clients are in the cultural sector including: Britten Sinfonia, Concerteenies, Peterborough Sings!, Gary Clarke Company, Greentop Community Circus, VocalEyes, Forced Entertainment Ltd, The Sheffield Wheat Experiment and Harmony Works.

I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

When I’m not working, I can be found on a tennis court, on horse back, walking up a hill in The Peak or relaxing in my garden with my collection of dahlias and my flock of backyard chickens.