On leaving school in 1992 I spent two years working in London’s East End as a voluntary community worker. This involved running children’s clubs and youth groups, visiting the elderly and working on the streets with the homeless. I was also the drama and dance co-ordinator for a young peoples roadshow. In 1994 I attended the University of Warwick where I gained a 1st Class Honours BA(QTS) in Drama and Education. In this time I also set up a theatre company called Threshold Theatre where we performed as part of the Coventry Arts Alive Festival in 1997.
After spending two more years living in London, I visited Odin Teatret in Denmark shortly after which I moved back to my family home in Devon, where I studied an MA in Devised Theatre at Dartington College of Arts. In September 2001 I moved with my partner to South Wales. I spent three years as a Drama Teacher at Willows High School in Cardiff where I first made contact with Valley and Vale working on “Our World – Our Journeys” a multi arts project with young asylum seekers.
I joined Valley and Vale as Youth Arts Development and Drama Worker in October 2004 to set up and facilitate the “Breathing Space” Anti-Bullying project. During this time I have also developed and written a teaching pack to accompany the “Our World” video which will be available to all secondary schools in Wales.