About

Born and bred in Essex, I studied History at the University of Cambridge. After working in university administration, I started my Masters in Cultural Heritage Studies at UCL in 2011. In 2012 I combined this with an internship at Braintree District Museum. The museum became the focus of my Masters’ dissertation, looking at community engagement and place-making.

Museum and Heritage Work

After my Masters I worked at Braintree District Museum from 2013 – 2016. Acting first as maternity cover for Collections and Exhibitions, I later moved over to head up the Education section, still maintaining responsibility for Exhibitions. Being a small team, I also did a whole range of other jobs, including events, marketing and managing volunteers.

In 2016/17 I was the Exhibitions Officer for the Pulham project at Lowewood Museum, delivering an HLF funded exhibition and events programme. This was followed by an Arts Council England funded Public Engagement post across 3 local museums, Epping Forest District Museum, Lowewood Museum and Chelmsford Museum. In 2017 I began a family career break, whilst still maintaining active links with the sector, including volunteering at Chelmsford Museum and becoming a member of the Hatfield Peverel Parish Council History Working Group.

John Ray Trust

Since 2015 I have been a Trustee of Braintree charity the John Ray Trust and am currently Chair. An historical and nature charity, the Trust commemorates the work of Essex’s father of natural history John Ray (1627-1705) and supports the study of the natural world today. I manage their website and social media and am a regular speaker on the Essex circuit, giving talks about John Ray and the work of the Trust.

To find out more about the Trust please visit http://www.johnraytrust.com

Music and Dancing

Having started ballroom dancing whilst at Cambridge, my love of dancing has continued to grow, especially as I met my husband at local Ceroc jive classes! I am now a somewhat rusty player of the piano and saxophone, and played in Caprice, the Essex Wind Orchestra, for a number of years.