Month: August 2016

Trustee

I am Chairman and a Trustee at a multi-academy trust which has two schools. Ashmole Academy Trust was set up to extend the outreach of excellent education to more children. I, with the Trust Board set the strategic direction of the Trust and have plans for a nursery and summer school in addition to increasing the number of schools in the Trust.


Ashmole Academy Trust

Ashmole Academy became a multi-academy trust in 2016 to create a primary school. I have worked hard with Ashmole Academy and the local community to make the primary school concept a reality. I am delighted that Ashmole Primary School opened its doors to 60 Reception aged children in September 2016 following my campaign.

Text from a post I wrote on 12th January 2018:

I visited Ashmole Primary School today for a meeting on the permanent school building and it bought home to me the enormity of what has been achieved by dedicated members of the Ashmole team, my campaigner group and me!
 
Ashmole Primary School’s permanent building is a building site but by the end of this year it will be ready for children to move in. When I started this campaign I never believed that I would be part of the team that founded a brand new school! The road I traveled to get to this point has been full of challenges, of highs and lows but perseverance, determination and a stubborn resolution to have a new school made me carry on. There is one real reward that I have from this campaign and that was the hug from a crying mum on the opening day of the school. Her tears were of happiness, telling me that I had changed her, and her family’s life! I will never forget that moment and as I write this I am moved again.
 
The campaign started in 2012 from my front room. A group of community minded parents and grandparents who lived in an area that didn’t fall into any primary school catchment area decided to campaign for increased primary school provision. We each paid £10 to produce 2000 leaflets to distribute in the area letting residents know of the problem with school places and to gain support.
 
That was the beginning of SWEAT, the South West Enfield Action Team. We worked hard using our website https://wewantlocalschools.wordpress.com/home-2/ to get our message out there. We lobbied the Council, we went to the local press, we met our MP, we spoke to Councillors, we tried everything to raise awareness. I hated the way that Labour Councillors treated our problem as part of their political game, they didn’t care about us, we were a community group that could be exploited. The Labour Cabinet Member for Education called me naive for thinking I could do anything about school places, in a public meeting after I had spoken so that I was unable to respond. Political point scoring! But I did it! Despite what the Labour Cabinet Member for Education thought.
 
I used my influence and position as a school governor at Ashmole Academy to pursue a dream that has resulted in the building site pictured. One of the biggest disappointments for the Ashmole team was when our first free school bid failed! I felt that I had let down all those parents who had become wrapped in my enthusiasm and we can do it attitude … we had failed! I was bitterly disappointed…. it wasn’t a failure, it was a setback! Once we got over the disappointment, the Ashmole team took on board the feedback from the Department for Education and we submitted another, much improved free school bid and we were successful! I was so happy, not for me as my children would not get into the school but for all those parents who could send their children to an outstanding local school.
 
I am delighted that some of my fellow campaigners have gone on to become school governors and trustees.
 
My message is that if you see an injustice and if you feel strongly enough about it, others will feel the same and follow you. You can do anything if you put your mind to it! Ignore the nay sayers!
 
To find out more about Ashmole, SWEAT and myself visit:
http://www.ashmoleacademytrust.org/
http://www.ashmoleprimary.org/
https://wewantlocalschools.wordpress.com/home-2/
http://mrsdaniels.co.uk/

Conservative Outreach

I am an executive director of Conservative Friends of Turkey and work with the Friend’s group to outreach to ethnic communities. I have been a Conservative ambassador by delivering training to women candidates abroad and in Summer 2017 represented the Conservative party undertaking charity work in Rwanda. I provided campaign training to candidates standing for election in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


Working Mother

I am a working mother of young children and have been in employment since leaving further education with breaks for bringing up young children.

My career has been in technical engineering and I am proud to have had a fulfilling career in an environment that is male dominated. There are many women who work in Information Technology but there are very few women working in the technical aspect and my experience is that I have always been the only woman working among men.

I work hard for my family and lead by example. I want my children to grow up knowing that they must have a career and job and to support their local community.


Chair of Governors

I am Chair of Governors of Ashmole Primary School, a free school that I campaigned and created with the Ashmole team. I was a governor at Ashmole Academy for 13 years and Chair of Governors for 3 years, Ashmole Academy is a non-selective community secondary school rated as outstanding by OFSTED. The Ashmole motto is “Excellence is a habit” and we aim for every child to reach their potential and get the best start in life.


General Election 2015/17

I was privileged to have been selected by Edmonton Conservatives to represent them as their parliamentary candidate in the 2015 & 2017 general elections. I am honoured to have been asked to remain active in the Edmonton Conservative association in the future. I will do my utmost to improve the Edmonton community through campaigning and lobbying for improvements in services and facilities.


About Me

I am a hard working wife and mum with a career in technology. I am on the Conservative Party’s Approved list of Parliamentary Candidates to fight a constituency seat in the next General Election. I was the Conservative Party’s Parliamentary Candidate in the 2015 and 2017 General Elections in Edmonton, North London.

I am Chairman of Ashmole Academy Trust Board and Chairman of Ashmole Primary School. I created and led a parental pressure group which campaigned for a new primary school and which I went on to open after 5 years. 180 children are now receiving an outstanding education and the project has brought a £7.5mn investment in to the local area by the building of a new school along with the creation of new jobs. I have volunteered in my community for over 15 years with successful outcomes.

I am the Conservative Women’s Organisation London Regional Chairman and I actively support women into public life. I hold CWO campaigning activities to introduce women into political life, for example debating and campaigning sessions. I hold fundraising activities attended by Ministers, MPs and Ambassadors to donate funds to women standing for public office.

I created an action group the South West Enfield Action Team (SWEAT) which I chaired to campaign for increased primary school provision. The Local Schools for Local Children campaign brought about change for the local community with intentions to create two new primary schools. These were meant to occur in 2014 and 2015, the reality is that the local authority did not live up to their promises and the only school that has opened is the one I influenced as a governor at Ashmole Academy.

My expertise is in technology and my interest is education. I have been employed since leaving further education and have a full career in Technical Engineering. I have worked at the Bank of England for over 10 years, the Houses of Parliament for 5 years, local government for over 6 years, as well as the private sector. I am currently employed by the Greater London Authority.

I come from an ethnic background and I am second generation immigrant as a result of my parents fleeing the problems in Cyprus in 1960.


Conservative Campaigner

I have always taken a proactive stance on issues that are close to my heart. When I realised that local children could not gain admission to their closest school (when they lived 0.2 miles from the school) I decided to take action. I formed a group of parents supported by the local community to campaign for increased primary school provision. After two years of campaigning and lobbying our campaign group have made a difference with the introduction of a free school providing 60 school places commencing in September 2016. There were many ups and downs in the campaign, not least the Labour local authority playing party politics and disappointing the community that they are meant to represent.