The day that changed my life!

Early in the morning on 17 December 1996, on checking the job specification for an interview later that day, I realised that I didn’t have the required 5 years secretarial experience! I remember praying that if I was the right person for the job, both the panel and I would know! Late in the afternoon I received a phone call from Graham Cray offering me the post of “College Secretary and Secretary to the Ridley Hall Foundation” – I was excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

Coming from a clergy household prepared me well for being part of the staff team that only trained ordinands at that point. There’s been a lot of change since 1997 going from strength to strength; Ridley Hall is still involved in delivering training and study opportunities through ordination, lay ministry, independent study and research.

About 700 ordinands have been trained at Ridley (including 2024-25 cohort) and adding in Lay Ministry Students, I reckon that I’ve seen about 1200 people train here.

When I began working at Ridley Hall in January 1997, I was one of the first staff to receive a new “Mac” and the first project I was given was to help in the transition of the installation of the wiring for telephones and internet cables in the College. We threw out the old Ansaphone machine and had voicemail facilities on the telephone. I got an email address later that year and email was installed on my computer in time for Christmas 1997! Till then, I went over to the Sidgwick Site to access emails which I did twice a week. It was letters, envelopes, stamps in those days! You can imagine what that was like when we did a mail shot twice a year to the 1,500 people on Ridley Hall Foundation (latterly Faith in Business) database!

My first office overlooked the Ridley quadrangle and was beside two pay-phone booths in the dark entrance marked “Porter’s Lodge”. The phone boxes were regularly broken into eventually leading to designs to open up the reception area as a welcoming space. Working 4 days a week with Fiona and Kaye as part of the fantastic SAS team (Student Administrative Services!) each day is busy and varied so boredom never sets in.

I’m currently serving under my 5th College Principal, and have seen some of “my” Principals and Ordinands become Anglican Bishops.  Moule Day is always exciting as I can greet so many Alumni I’ve known over the years. I work with an ever-changing staff team and embrace each new chapter that Ridley Hall presents.

I like to fill my spare time crocheting, reading and crafting as well as faithfully supporting the Scottish Rugby Team. Another of my passions is following the life at Dalscone Farm in Dumfries in Scotland via live-streams. All of my cats have had Scottish names eg Hamish, Logan and Eilidh so I guess you could say that “You can take the girl out of Scotland, but you can’t take Scotland out of the girl!”

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