I was born and bred in Lancashire and am proud of my birthplace, Coppull,  a small village which sits between Chorley and Wigan. 

My family lived on Preston Road and I attended Coppull Moor School.  One of my fondest memories is of the Headteacher, Mr Goodman, who was fanatical about hockey and all the children were taught how to play the game at playtimes.  This, in fact, served me well when I transferred to one of the first secondary modern schools in that area which was at Shevington, just outside Wigan, and hockey was one of the most popular sports played there.  I will always be grateful to Mr Goodman for giving me that introduction to hockey at an early age.

I left school as soon as I was able to do so at the age of 15, because I wanted to begin work and earn some money!  This led to a multitude of job experiences including: potter, shop assistant, van driver, sales rep supplying football clubs (I was one of the first women sales reps), training officer for Kwiksave Supermarket.  I also worked at the Royal Ordnance Factory in Chorley for a good number of years.  In addition, at one time I ran my own business selling pop star merchandise and also had my own greeting card business.

I currently work for Greg Pope MP as his full-time agent, a post which I have held since 1992.

I have been a member of the Transport and General Workers Union for many years and at one point was the youngest Shop Steward.  

My position as Deputy Leader of the County Council means that I support the Leader, County Councillor Hazel Harding.  We are both are members of the Cabinet.  The ten Cabinet members are responsible for the day-to-day decision-making and make recommendations on policy, strategy and budget issues to the full County Council.  As a member of the Cabinet I am responsible for Equalities and Diversity and you can find out more about that by selecting the appropriate subpage from the menu on the left hand side of the screen.

Equalities and Diversity has been a passion of mine since the first day I came on the County Council.  Living in, and representing, three of the most deprived areas in the country, and seeing on a daily basis the inequality, continues to drive me to try and improve the everyday lives of the people I represent.