Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
I qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2015, spending the first part of my career working on an all female acute psychiatric ward, before starting my own family. My positive experience of maternity leave, meeting other parents and their babies and learning about child development and the challenges families face ignited my passion to work in paediatrics and I was fortunate enough to join the KCHFT Childrens Therapies OT team in January 2020. I quickly developed an interested in working with Early Years and Upper Limb therapy and am now proud to be the East Kent Upper Limb specialist for our service.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
As an Occupational Therapist I firmly believe that all children and young people should have the opportunity to participate in meaningful and purposeful activities as part of their everyday routine. The main occupation for children is play and I am passionate about using play and toys (our therapy tools) to deliver timely, evidence-based interventions which can profoundly influence long-term outcomes and ultimately enhance the wider NHS provision in our local area. I am privileged to be part of the OT team, who have undergone significant transformation in the last 12 months, adapting to the evolving needs of the families we serve, integrating evidence-based practice, and responding to changes in service delivery. It is for this reason I nominated our service for KCHFT Clinical Team of the Year, and am very proud to say we won in an award ceremony which took place July 2025.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
In July 2025 I will be taking on a voluntary role as a ‘Breathe Magic trainer’, support a 2 week summer camp for children with hemiplegia. I intend to use the Evie Dove foundation funding to cover travel expenses in order to this voluntary work placement. Once complete, I hope to introduce some of the knowledge and skills learnt during this placement to incorporate magic into therapy sessions with the young people I work with on a daily basis. I am also very interested in research and plan to complete a masters in the next few years, exploring my specialist areas further; upper limb, early years, creative arts and play.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
The Evie Dove foundation is advertised in the local children’s centre where I work.
Tell us about yourself!
I am the proud Mother to two absolute superstars, Daisy and Elodie. Most of my time is spent going on adventures with them, taking photographs, singing songs, playing instruments, working on art projects, baking cakes and walking our dog, Cooper. In my spare time I like reading (mostly research related articles) and listening to webinars and podcasts
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
I firmly believe that every child, regardless of ability, deserves the opportunity to experience something truly magical. I am incredibly grateful to the Evie Dove Foundation for supporting my funding application, which has enabled me to take part in this voluntary work placement — a meaningful step toward bringing magical experiences to the children I work with
