Could you tell readers about yourself, and why you’ve chosen to try and represent this ward?
I was born in Braeholm on East Montrose Street and attended John Logie Baird Primary School then Hermitage Academy. At 18, I got my first job at Coulport then onto Faslane, where I learned the importance of the nuclear deterrent. I had my son Connor in 1992 and worked part-time in a number of local businesses including Maureen McGuire’s Famous Coffee House, Buckles Shoes and The Health Food Store – all of them coincidentally on West Princes Street and all of them teaching me invaluable life and communication skills!
I moved to London when Connor was ten and retrained as a teacher, specialising in literacy. My heart was always in Helensburgh and I came home regularly to visit my mum and wider family and friends, returning permanently in 2015 to teach English at Vale of Leven Academy, recently opting for early retirement. I remain passionate about education, am keen to link our generations and hope to work with our schools and local companies to promote literacy and help local people get into local jobs. I am aware of a variety of issues on our doorstep and I will use my life experiences positively to speak up and address areas of concern.
What do you think are the three key issues in the future for the ward, and how close is your relationship with it?
I am new to local politics and believe that fresh views can only add to our collective futures and sharing ideas across our age groups would be a focus for me. I want to bring older and younger people together to share what life was like in Helensburgh and look at what it is like today to be young in our town. We need to find ways of understanding why there are local young people getting into bother with our already overstretched police and, crucially, what we are going to do to fix it.
I am committed to meeting as many local people as possible to find out what our council can realistically do to address problems appropriately. Potholes, fading road signs and inconsiderate parking are a real issue for us all. I appreciate that funding can be a challenge but if we put our minds to it, we can work together to raise money for the things that matter most to us all as residents of our great town. I will take the lead on this wherever I can in order to promote and add to the goodwill and generosity already in evidence across Helensburgh.
Currently Argyll and Bute Council is run by TALIG – the Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group, a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and some independent councillors. If elected, would you join this group?
It is certainly an interesting mix of views which is what we need in order to fairly represent all opinions and ideas. The short answer is yes, I would join the group and look forward to learning and contributing to the team effort by active listening and positive action. Currently the council is considering a ‘collectives’ system, which would see several schools share a headteacher and management team. Do you support this policy?
Having seen this in action in London schools, my experiences have not been positive. Whilst on paper it seems like a great idea, the reality is different for so many complex reasons. For me, it is about school experiences for each individual child and our focus should be on improving literacy and numeracy.