I have been the Chief Officer at Essex Boys and Girls Clubs (EBGC) for the last 31 years. EBGC is an umbrella youth organization with 150 affiliated youth groups in the Southeast of England some small, 1 evening a week operations and others much larger clubs running 24/7. We provide programs, support, training, legal advice and resources to ensure that clubs run effectively. We also run 3 outdoor activity centers, two based in the mountainous regions of the UK the other in Essex.

I started my journey with Boys and Girls clubs when I was 8 when I walked into my local club. I went to learn how to box, to look after myself but found that I much preferred Table Tennis. I went on to represent Great Britain at Table Tennis and Racquetball. I qualified as a teacher/youth worker in 1982 and after my training decided that I would work for the London Federation of Boys Clubs as their sports officer my first proper job. I have never escaped, and I am also now Chairman of the Club that I went to as a young person and Essex abuts London so I have not moved far.

Nowadays I am into endurance sport completing Ironman triathlons, Cycling Lands’ End to John O’Groats (from one end of the country to the other) 3 times and also swimming the Great Glen (Loch Ness, Loch Lochy, Loch Oich all connected by the Caledonian canal) 60+ miles from one side of Scotland to the other. I am a qualified Winter Mountain Leader and this passion forms a large part of EBGC’s program.

My greatest achievement and what I am truly proud of are my two children and my 2 grandchildren as they are the future!