I grew up in Africa and when I was about 14 my father taught me, my brother and my mother to play bridge...and I have never stopped loving the game since. I'm still challenged by it and still celebrating this wonderful game! I continued to play bridge throughout my childhood and into University. From there I joined Reading Bridge Club, then Cheltenham Bridge Club and now Oxford Bridge Club. My heart is with Oxford Bridge Club because I committed almost a year to helping to project manage the new extension to the club, of which I am extremely proud.
My professional career has been in farming. I have worked as a farm consultant, a farm manager, an expert witness, a farm contractor, building businesses and making the most of opportunities.
In my late 50's I decided managing nearly 5,000 acres was for someone younger and I had the opportunity to join a well respected Land Agency firm heading up the Agriculture desk in their new Oxford offices. So I had the fun of working in the corporate sector for seven years running Family Farms and Estates, Farm Shops, University Farms, Wildlife Trusts - it was a great experience even if wearing a suit every day was not quite my thing!
Around seven years ago, my youngest moved to London and Oxford Bridge club beckoned. I can honestly say I have been living the dream - I have had the most wonderful seven years playing with newly found bridge friends in beautiful places across England and Europe and celebrating a wonderful game. Thank you to the EBU for giving me this opportunity.
In 2024 I felt it was the time to give back to the game and I agreed to join the planning committee to support The "Bridge - It's a Big Deal!" Festival of Bridge, under the inspiration of Tony Russ. I was then co-opted onto the EBU Board in January 2024.
I hope to spend my time working hard to deliver new initiatives and opportunities and to ensure we promote the game and the way we do things in the best interest of our members. My first project is to drive forward a new strategic plan - which will be a work in progress as it has to be a commitment to do things in a different way - and sometimes one doesn't get it quite right first go!
Major International Appearances
European Mixed Teams Championships: 2022
European Transnational Championships Women's: 2019
European Championships, England Mixed Team: 2022
European Transnationals Mixed BAM: 2023
England Women's Team: 2024
World Bridge Games Mixed Team: 2024
Lady Milne Trophy Selections: 2021