My journey began as a part-time Party Assistant and Leisure Assistant at the Hertswood Centre back in 1998, to support me whilst I was still at school. I then went onto college to study Performing Arts and Music. During this time, I decided that my future lay with leisure and was offered a full-time role in 2000 at the newly opened Venue Leisure Centre in Borehamwood, I was quickly promoted to Senior Leisure Assistant, covering Duty Manager roles to gain more experience. I then moved across to Bushey Grove Leisure Centre as a Duty Manager with responsibility for Children’s Activities. I left for a short period but returned to the Venue and Hertswood as a Duty Manager and was also tasked with a new venture of running Park Events on behalf of Hertsmere Borough Council.
I missed the camaraderie of working within a Leisure environment as I had made so many lifelong friends working with InspireAll, it was like my second home. The Park Events role gave me a fantastic opportunity to use my knowledge and skills and I am very proud that I was able to develop and deliver many successful events across the borough, one of my favourites is the Movies in the Park which now attracts over 2,000 people every summer. I was also able to secure funding for many of the events, working with partners.
The company was awarded a contract to manage the newly opened 96 Shenley Road Community Hub 5 years ago and it was a great opportunity for me to progress into a Centre Manager role whilst continuing to develop and run events across the borough.
More recently I have been given the opportunity to lead the corporate Catering and Events across the organisation which is a challenge I relish, working with my peers and colleagues to take our catering outlets to a new level, being able to offer our customers excellent service whilst maintaining value for money.
Like many businesses, our industry was hit hard during the pandemic with all leisure centres closing. During this time of uncertainty, I took on the role of Centre Manager at Bletchley Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes and during an extremely challenging time worked with an amazing team to rebuild the business and reopen the centre successfully after a number of national lockdowns.
In August 2021 I returned to my role as Corporate Food & Beverage Manager and have been working closely with the wider teams and suppliers to rebuild the food and beverage offering after the pandemic.
My journey has been a bumpy one but I have learnt so much and am really appreciative of the opportunities I have been given during my time working for InspireAll, now for over 10 years!!!
InspireAll offers some great employee benefits, including the use of the facilities which help keep me healthy and active.