Kate

I love good stories.  I love hearing about them and I love writing about them. A trained journalist, I started my career in London working for a national daily newspaper. I interviewed people who had had amazing adventures, as well as heart-breaking tragedies; it was a privilege to be let into their lives. Through this work, I learned that everyone has a story to tell. I then moved into corporate communications for the NHS, where I worked for 16 years leading and managing communications and engagement to make health information accessible for everyone. This included sharing people’s stories to better communicate what the NHS does. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working in healthcare – with patients, patient groups and clinicians – and am galvanised by the empathy and compassion I came across every day.

I left the NHS in 2019 to set up All Your Own Words, inspired by my own experience of losing family stories. I have had several bereavements, and feel saddened that some of my family’s history is lost forever. It is too late to capture the stories of my father, for example, and so my children will never know much about him. I set up All Your Own Words so that I could offer a ‘memory capturing’ service to others. I hope that I will be able to bring people joy through this work.

In an effort to ensure young people can look forward to a lifetime of reading wonderful stories, also I volunteer at my children’s school helping youngsters learn to read. In addition, I volunteer with Age UK, ensuring older people who are self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic don’t feel too lonely.

Through my NHS and charity work, I know how important privacy and confidentially are, and the safeguards required to keep people’s information secure. To this end, All Your Own Words is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can read my privacy policy here . A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, I have an MBA from Chester University and an industry-recognised qualification in journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists. I also have a valid DBS (criminal records) certificate.