I was born and brought up in the UK, though I have also lived in Nigeria, Germany and Switzerland. After graduating in German and Linguistics with Arabic, I spent the next twenty-five years raising four sons with my husband Martin, and pursuing a corporate career in IT.
I have been a Bahá’í since learning about the Faith at high school. At age 17 I enrolled as a Bahá’í in the (then) very young and active community of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. I am blessed with many good friends in the UK Bahá’í community, and some in other communities around the world. Upon retiring from my ‘day job’ in 2008 I was able to devote more of my time to Bahá’í service, as well as voluntary service with environmental and community organisations in and around the Gloucestershire village where I live.
Since 2010 I have served alongside Thelma Batchelor as coordinator of the UK Bahá’í Histories project, which collects and publishes personal histories written by Bahá’ís about their journey to faith.I also work with a small group of qualified teachers, and a network of very engaged Bahá’ís across the country, to encourage the teaching of the Bahá’í Faith in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales and to provide suitable web-based materials for teachers to use.
My family, from the very young to the ‘senior’ generation, are a source of great joy and motivation to me. They remind me – if a reminder were needed – of the importance of treasuring all of our personal stories and making them accessible to the generations to come.