I am now a writer and para-dressage rider, but in 1991 my Fellowship took me to Sweden to look at ways of making the countryside more accessible to disabled people.

At the time I was working for the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England), and on my return I worked alongside our site wardens to sensitively improve access to our National Nature Reserves. I was then head-hunted by the Fieldfare Trust to work on the UK-wide BT Countryside for All project. Four happy years of helping rangers and disabled people to develop inclusive countryside access followed. It was the job I was born to do, and I'll always be grateful to the Fellowship for giving me the confidence to follow my dream.

When my body decided I'd done enough travelling I took an MA and PhD in Applied Disability Studies at the University of Sheffield, and became an academic for a while. I then moved home to Cornwall to care for my parents, rediscovering in the process my childhood passion for horses, which has opened up an unexpected pathway into para-dressage. I'm currently working on my memoirs and training at national para-dressage level. Perhaps Churchill Fellows never stop wanting to keep on learning?