What attracted you to HLF and what do you like best about what they do?

After working for 10 years at Prince’s Regeneration Trust, I had worked closely with HLF on a variety of their supported projects. I decided to take on the role at HLF because I felt that in the current climate, HLF was best placed to make a positive contribution to heritage. It was an opportunity to make a real difference in an area I’ve grown to care about.

What advice would you have for me as a young person who’s interested in a career in heritage?

My advice would be you should just go out and see as much as you can, volunteer with a heritage organisation and try to learn as much as possible. Understanding how the world ticks is vital in heritage as it has to work in the real world.

There are two separate ways of approaching heritage, one as a very technical approach and one where you end up working in heritage without intending to. Find what you enjoy and run with whatever that might be.

If you could invite five historical figures to a dinner party who would you invite?

• Samuel Pepys – no dinner party is complete without a gossip and Pepys’ diaries made him an excellent candidate for the gossip space at the table
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel – I have love for engineering and I see Brunel’s work as capturing the beauty of engineering. He built things that worked, but that were beautiful as well
• David Bowie – I admire David Bowie’s ability to use his imagination to intertwine art with music, and to continue to do so throughout his life. He created a career for himself without imploding as popstars so often do
• Eric Morecambe – to add lots of laughter to the dinner party
• Josiah Wedgwood – an important face in the anti-slavery fight in the 1700s who left a legacy in ceramics

What one achievement are you most proud of during your career in heritage?

Probably rescuing Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, where we used heritage to make a positive contribution to the community: creating new job opportunities and protecting the past, while serving future generations. Not one piece of paper was thrown away: everything from 19th-century drawings of building plans to 'Yellow Pages' from the 1970s had been kept and preserved.

Do you have any inspirations and, if you do, why?

My father is my inspiration because of his belief that all his children were brilliant and his passion for knowledge and learning, which he developed at the University of War after being shot down as a pilot during the Second World War.

Finally, if you had to describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

Determined. Had my children chosen, the word would’ve been far less flattering!

Ros then took the mic...

Once I had finished my questions, Ros decided to ask me some questions about my time here at HLF. The first question she asked was about what I’d learned during my time here. Over the course of the week I was able to see the entire process of choosing which projects are awarded and which are rejected which really helped me to see how hard the decision can be and how much more complicated the process is than just applying and receiving a response.

She also asked me about how I’ll try to get involved based on what I’ve learnt: I’m now really keen to get involved in community projects, and will be looking into heritage organisations in my local area.