Patricia grew up and went to school in Worthing in Sussex, but has now  lived in Cumbria for over 40 years.

In her working life she was a secondary school teacher for 28 years, in Sheffield and at the Lakes School in Windermere . She then worked for Cumbria Police for 9 years as Diversity Advisor fostering closer relationships and understanding between the police and  people with  protected characteristics and to foster joint working on equalities issues between agencies and the third sector.

Patricia served as a councillor for three different councils, Eden District, the County Council and now Westmorland and Furness and has had held portfolios for Communities, Finance and currently Adult Social Care, Public Health and Health Integration.

She describes networking, problem solving and bring people together to find better ways of doing something is the thing that  drives her.

She is passionate about helping people to live fulfilled and independent lives and about supporting the development of age friendly communities.

When not doing council work Patricia says exploring new places is high on her agenda. She loves spending time outdoors, be it gardening, cycling and walking or simply sitting outside with a good book.