A tale of two women

I’ve had a hard life, I have. It don’t seem fair somehow. It goes back to when I was kid.

I grew up in London, on a council estate. I was the eldest of three.

Me mum was divorced and a single parent in the 1950s ….. it was not so common back then.

I was the only kid in my class to get free school dinners.

We were homeless once……...I got to stay with mum’s friend but the others went to a hostel.

The type where they searched your head for nits and disinfected you.

Then we all moved into one room, next to a drug dealer…… with heroin needles outside.

I got lucky then and won a scholarship to public school…… It didn’t last long though.

I got homesick ‘cos I missed me mum… So I ran away .. I was 16 when me mum was taken ill. She was in hospital for weeks, couldn’t cope, so she hit the bottle, and the pills…..

She forged prescriptions, threatened to jump out the window. I wanted to be a cookery teacher.

I didn’t go to college, I had to earn money. I got married at 21 and we moved to Hong Kong….. She killed herself that Christmas, me mum. Years later, and back in H K I left my husband. I was half way round the world and homeless again. So I got a job as a live-in housekeeper.

It gave me somewhere to live even though it was like slave labour.

I went to work abroad. The boss sent a letter round to say no-one was to call me by my name.

I met my 2^nd husband there and got fired from work, so lost my flat. We moved back to London.

We bought a house and renovated it. Then I burnt it down, but not on purpose.

He wanted kids. So I had IVF 3 times, not for free ‘cos I was too old.

Had five miscarriages and nearly died. Then we split up after he got someone else pregnant.

Later I met the man of my dreams, or so I thought. We got engaged and bought a flat.

A week later I got breast cancer. I had to keep it secret or lose my job. The dog ate my wig.

He left me. The man, not the dog. After court cases and legal bills, I ended up in debt.

My manic depressive brother killed himself the same week. I didn’t find out about the gambling ‘til after. I was living on £10 a week and couldn’t afford the petrol or parking for work. All my clothes come from charity shops. I took in a lodger who didn’t pay the rent. Then I wrote off the car, the third in a row. I wasn’t even in it at the time. Life sucks. What’s the point?

I am so lucky. I’ve such had a great life and have achieved so much. I have the most amazing friends and I live each day to the full, as if it’s my last. I’ve been pretty much self-educated, and I try to learn a new skill every year. It ensures I’ll never be out of work. I’m on my fourth career so far, and keep re-inventing myself, just like a chameleon. I work all the hours that God sends, With no dependents, I can just please myself and grab every opportunity with both hands.

So, who is this person, what has she done?

• round the world twice
• Chef to the British Ambassador to the UN in New York - with no cooking experience
• District Councillor for 10 years, elected three times – Regulation & Licensing (Personal Licence)
• Governor of a primary school and a special school; and Chair of Somerset Schools Forum
• Fought the NHS and won and am now Public Governor of RD and Exeter Hospital, elected twice
• First woman to be a member of Ilminster Rotary Club
• Trustee of Chard Museum and a Samaritan
• Advocate for someone with learning difficulties
• Chair of Planning at Ilminster Town Council and member of SCC Parking Appeals Panel
• Qualified teacher and also Tutor of English as a Foreign Language
• I’ve gained a Chartered Institute of Marketing Qualification
• Only qualified WSET Tutor in Somerset, and with 100% rating, and I’m a wine writer
• Personal Licence holder – BII
• RSH Diploma in Food Hygiene as well as RSA Bookkeeping
• European Computer Driving Licence - Advanced
• Local Community Champion award, a BTEC Advanced award in Local Gov’t

POEM - I look for the good in everyone and try to do or say something kind everyday. I try to be the very best I can be. You can be anything you want to be if you begin with the end in mind, find your passion and focus on it. It’s not what happens in life that counts, it’s how you handle it. Attitude really is everything. - Being invited here to speak to you today is one of the highest honours I could have received. I raise my glass to you all – a glass half full. Thank you.