When did you join Merchant Taylors’?
I joined the Development team seven years ago; I am a relative newcomer compared to many of the Support Staff!
This role offered a return to full-time work following a career break of thirteen years. I say career break, but it had also been a great opportunity to try my hand at lots of different things. I worked as a part-time teaching assistant, helped a friend in the office at her construction business, was a funding officer in local government, and stood (unsuccessfully) in the local council elections before my family and I moved to Hong Kong for a couple of years. And before all of that I had a really interesting career in media planning and buying at a series of London agencies. A smörgåsbord of a career you might say!
Tell us about your role. What excites you about it? How did you get into it?
Any boys or parents who come across me at work might know that I help with some of the event bookings and to recruit OMT and parent volunteers to come to School for talks. But I am part of a team of four in the Development Office, located opposite the Dining Hall, and our main work is building and strengthening connections between OMTs, parents, the wider community and the School, for long-term mutual benefit.
We have some amazing supporters who donate generously. This has helped to fund entrance bursaries as well as support those whose circumstances have changed. We had huge support from OMTs and parents in response to the Julian Hill Cricket Centre appeal which, through lettings income, is also providing bursaries at School. And then there are the dozens of Clubs and Societies from Ukulele Club to Rowing to the Art Cafe to Subbuteo to mountain biking and so many more who have received philanthropic support.
My work is incredibly varied and constantly evolving. One week, I may be writing articles for and helping to edit the annual alumni magazine, Concordia, and the next I can be planning or running events marking major milestones for OMTs at School such as reunions or the annual Afternoon Tea.
What are you most proud of outside of work?
Difficult to say really. I don’t like pride as an emotion because I’m too much of a hedonist! If I’m thinking about things that make me happy, I have two lively cocker spaniels who are a source of great embarrassment and expense, but I do adore them!
What did you study at A-Level?
I studied A Level English, Biology and Geography as well as AS Level Geography and I have a BA in Geography from King’s College, London. At the time, the Geography Department was a joint school with LSE, and I had the most amazing lecturer there, Sylvia Chant. She taught the Geography of Gender module. Her work shaped the understanding that lifting women and children out of poverty drives development across the world.
What piece of media would you recommend and why?
Radio Four has been a constant companion for decades and I recommend it to everyone! In the 1970’s, my father’s work took our family to live in Malaysia, and I can still hear the music for the World Service which my parents used to listen to in the evenings. Nowadays, I am an avid listener of the Today programme, I love the way Emma, Anna, Amol and Nick (for they are my personal friends) can be conducting excoriating interviews with politicians one minute and then discussing orcas predating seals with Billy Shiels, the man who runs boat trips to the Farne Islands, the next.
My 2025 Spotify Wrapped said my taste can’t be defined – I listened to 151 genres! At the moment, I’m enjoying Britten’s Four Sea Interludes (in preparation for a hoped for trip to see Bryn Terfel in Peter Grimes at the ROH next year) but I’m also heavily influenced by my children’s tastes to whom I credit Eric Whitacre’s When David Heard and Noah Kahan’s Northern Attitude.
I recently read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeda by Shehan Karunatilaka. It is set during the violent years of the Sri Lankan civil war; a murdered photo-journalist is given seven days and nights to save his hidden photographs and discover who his murderer is. Part political thriller and part fantasy, it is intricate and exciting, and a really satisfying read.
I also would offer a final recommendation for anyone who has finished Slow Horses and would like to watch something gentle instead. Film Club on BBC iPlayer written by Aimee-Lou Wood is wonderful. It explores anxiety, agoraphobia, family relationships and love against a backdrop of fantastic classic movies – I loved it.
