My 1977 Churchill Fellowship was on the theme of Travel and Tourism. As a tours and visits officer for BTA (British Tourist Authority, now VisitBritain, the national tourist board), I planned familiarisation tours for foreign travel trade. I visited Germany, France and Switzerland to study how their national, regional and local tourist board networks marketed their countries to foreign visitors. Afterwards, I worked for BTA Madrid, then BTA Amsterdam.

Having completed a Cranfield MBA, I worked with Milton Keynes Development Corporation marketing the new city as a location for foreign companies, and finally with Reuters Training Department running courses in London and overseas. After marriage and having two daughters, I retrained to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and some business studies.

The experience of working for different organisations, both overseas and in London, together with my growing professional confidence, started with the Churchill Fellowship. So a big thank you to the Fellowship for the opportunity.