The Blue Badge Network

Born in November 1939 to Salvation Army minister parents in Tiverton, Devon, I was soon to know the full horrors of war when we eventually moved to Teignmouth and were bombed out twice. This led to my older sister and I being evacuated to my grandparents for two years while my parents remained in Teignmouth to minister to people who had lost their homes and members of their families, as well as working along-side the emergency services. Due to the nature of my parents' ministry we were constantly on the move and I received my education in 13 schools in Devon, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire and London. I had won a scholarship to my last school, which specialized in commercial studies and when I started work, I was a secretary in the Legal Department of Middlesex County Council at the Guildhall, Parliament Square, Westminster. Another move found me as Private Secretary to the chief buyer of Hoover in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales followed by a transfer to their Sales Office in Leeds and then down to London. To pursue my calling to become a Salvation Army Officer I entered the Training College with my social training being carried out in Glasgow and out-training in Wakefield. At my commissioning in 1964 I was appointed to Bristol Bedminster with an eventual move to Cirencester and, finally, to Wellington, Somerset. I moved back to Cirencester in 1968 and married my husband, Peter, (then a Municipal Engineer but entered the teaching profession, eventually becoming a Deputy Head Teacher and taking early retirement in July 2000). We have three children, two daughters and a son, the eldest daughter being married to a serving solder in the Army. Whilst our son-in-law was in Bosnia, our first grandchild, a girl, was born in January 1999 and I had the great privilege and joy to be present at her birth. Their son was born in Germany in September 2001. Since my marriage, I was school secretary at a local private school for 9 years followed by a complete change when I joined the management team of Trust House Forte, based in the Little Chef Cirencester and, from time to time, working throughout the South Cotswolds. Eventually illness came along with frequent hospitalization, which included being transferred to the National Hospital for Neurology in London. It was there that I passed through the most harrowing times of my life as I not only awaited diagnosis for myself but also watched the intense suffering of others. However, the months I spent there made me the person I am today and I can now empathise with people having "been there myself". I remain a fully committed Christian despite the very low points of my life but can completely understand those who have been through similar experiences and have lost their faith. My interest over several years was arranging group continental holidays for 50 people and more. Now my commitment to the Network together with my local Access Group takes all my available energies but I find it a pleasure to help people with disabilities and am honoured to serve you.