Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
I am a highly motivated and passionate paediatric occupational therapist with 14 years of diverse experience spanning community, school, acute, and neonatal settings. My career has been driven by a commitment to early intervention, recognising the profound impact that timely, tailored occupational therapy can have on children’s development and lifelong participation. My career began in Swansea, working in the community where I supported children and families in their natural environments. I progressed to the Royal London Hospital, working across Swiss Cottage School and mainstream schools. Here, I conducted standardised assessments and implemented tailored interventions, including running groups for children with developmental coordination difficulties and handwriting challenges. This work reinforced my understanding of the importance of individualised, functional interventions and the value of collaborative working with educators and families.
I then joined St George’s Hospital in the community, supporting children in mainstream schools, advising the Early Years team on under-twos with complex medical needs, and contributing to the Autism Spectrum Disorder clinic. This role broadened my skills in supporting children with diverse and complex needs while strengthening my ability to guide multi-agency teams and families.
Seeking to expand my expertise in an acute paediatric setting, I joined Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). Over four years, I worked with international private patients and then within the Immunology, Blood Cells, and Cancer department, supporting children from birth to 17 years. These experiences reinforced the critical importance of early intervention, particularly for infants and young children with complex health conditions, and deepened my skills in providing highly individualised, developmentally supportive care.
Following my time at GOSH, I secured my first Band 7 position at St George’s Hospital within the acute paediatric team. In this role, I developed and led OT service delivery, supporting a small team, implementing systems for equipment sourcing and management, and ensuring that children on the ward had timely access to essential resources. This role enhanced my skills in service development, leadership, and multidisciplinary collaboration.
Over the last two years, my focus has shifted to neonatal occupational therapy, where my true passion lies. I support parents and their babies through parent-baby co-occupations, promoting responsive caregiving, and optimising neurodevelopment for premature infants. Working in this specialty has reinforced my belief that early intervention is foundational to improving long-term outcomes and that empowering parents is central to effective neonatal OT. My career has been driven by a commitment to providing holistic, evidence-based, and family-centred occupational therapy, with a particular focus on early intervention and neurodevelopmental support. I am dedicated to advancing my skills, contributing to service development, and ensuring that every child and family I work with receives the highest standard of care, from the earliest stages of life.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
I was drawn to a career in occupational therapy through a strong desire to help others and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Working with children, in particular, has been deeply fulfilling, as I am motivated by supporting them to overcome challenges and achieve goals that are important to them and their families. Seeing children develop confidence, independence, and participation through tailored intervention continues to inspire and drive my commitment to this profession.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
Funding from The Evie Dove Foundation would enable me to further develop my specialist skills in neonatal and early intervention occupational therapy, directly enhancing the quality of care I provide to infants and their families. By advancing my clinical knowledge and evidence-based practice, I would be better equipped to support neurodevelopment, promote parent–infant co-occupations, and deliver timely, tailored interventions at a critical stage of development. This investment would not only support my professional growth but would also strengthen and expand the services available to vulnerable children and families, contributing to improved developmental outcomes and long-term participation.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
I know a few Allied Health Professionals who have also been fortunate enough to have received funding via the Evie Dove Foundation which has helped them attend valuable courses.
Tell us about yourself!
I come from a loving, close-knit family, and now that we are all older and married, my favourite time of year is when we come together to sit for hours around the dining room table sharing stories, wine and food and at Christmas, enthusiastically playing Celebrity Fruit Bowl. I have a deep love for animals and currently get my “pet therapy” from my parents’ labradoodle and my husband’s parents’ cocker spaniel; if I weren’t an occupational therapist, I would love to run an animal rescue centre surrounded by animals needing a home. Outside of work, I enjoy staying active through badminton and tennis, and during my time in London I played touch rugby—something I’m keen to reintroduce socially in Southampton. I also love travelling and look forward to holidays with friends, family, or my husband, whether that’s sunshine or skiing, with my favourite trip to date being a hiking holiday in Switzerland, finishing with a cheese rösti and panoramic views over Interlaken accompanied by Swiss horns.
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
I would like to become a recognised specialist in early neurodevelopment who leads early identification and intervention pathways for high-risk infants, improving lifelong functional outcomes for children and families.
