Thank you all, particularly Revd Ange and the ministry team for welcoming me back into St. Mary and St. Anne’s Parish in Moseley.

Before I began to explore a call to ordained ministry I taught RE in secondary education for 13 years. For 14 years I have worked in a variety of support roles for different churches within the Birmingham Diocese. I started out as a site manager in this parish, which at the time was Moseley Benefice and eventually became the administration and finance manager at St. Martin in the Bull Ring.

My heart most of all, is with people. I enjoy being out and about like a fieldworker and meeting people from all walks of life. For 9 years I volunteered as a bus chaplain with NX West Midlands. I visited Acocks Green and Yardley Wood garages once a week as well as travelling to the changeover points for the drivers. I still offer my time as a prayer guide with an ecumenical association called Manresa Link.

I started training for ordination with the Queen’s Foundation whilst still working in September 2019.  After a few months of the pandemic, I was allowed to resume my chaplaincy visits by bicycle to the garages. Gone were the affectionate patting of bald pates and bus bellies as part of the camaraderie of the staff. It broke my heart to see the once busy garages almost deserted as we stood 2 metres apart from one another. The usual posters which advertised social events such as wrestling matches and darts evenings were replaced by health and safety signs. The seeds sown from years of chaplaincy visits began to fruit though. The Christian bus drivers invited me into their WhatsApp group and the garages were proud of their weekly collection of necessities for the local food bank.

To relax my hobbies are cycling, Yoga, jogging, walking and reading. In the past I have enjoyed doing Karate, which included a training session in St. Anne’s Parish Hall on Thursday evenings. I achieved brown belt with two black stripes and loved the rolling around and sparring but that was several years ago now. I have also loved doing Zumba and Pilates and I used to go skiing with the teenagers when I was a teacher. Sometimes I have gone on holiday on my own and travelled around, staying in convents and youth hostels. My favourite food is curry, chips, fruit, and I have a terrible weakness for crisps. When I am not busy, I like to relax in my bungalow with my cat Billi. Her name in Hindi and Urdu means ‘cat’.

I am looking forward to getting stuck into the life of the parish and to getting to know you all a little bit better. It has already been very humbling to be able to serve previously at the Sunday services, on the safeguarding team, at Christmas Day Together and to join in with various activities as well as looking after the buildings all those years ago. In this new season I am looking forward to being with you and joining in with discerning how God is encouraging each of us to grow.