Officers

I have been a member of the board since the charity's foundation. I taught English and Drama in Herefordshire high schools before moving to Hereford Art College to set up the Performing Arts Course there. I was appointed as the first drama adviser and then arts inspector for Herefordshire. Previously I worked as a theatre director and lighting technician in the UK, Europe and the USA. I was the director of Hereford Youth Theatre for several years and have worked extensively and written plays for young companies.

I spent my career in education working in a variety of settings with learners of all abilities aged between 4 and 64. After a childhood in the West Country, and bringing up my own family in Herefordshire, both in the countryside and the city, I am particularly interested in the possibilities for pupils from rural areas, and keen on environmental education, outdoor pursuits and experiences outside the classroom. More recently involved with allotments, counselling, mediation, local history, language learning and foreign travel.

I have been based in Herefordshire for over 25 years, working on culture and educational projects with partners that include Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, UNESCO, The Church of England and The Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I am a trained teacher, have travelled widely and am passionate about the environment. My current work in Arts in Health involves National art loans to a range of SEN schools, hospitals, healthcare services and hospices throughout the UK.

I was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and have lived and worked in Hereford since 1979. I taught in a secondary school in Hereford city and became a Headteacher of a special school in 2002 and a National Leader of Education in 2012. In 2015 I was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to education. I am very passionate about every child and young adult being given the best educational opportunities possible in Herefordshire and the Sylvia Short Charity will allow me to continue this wonderful service.

I came to Hereford in 1973 to the post of Head of Physical Education and sport at the newly opened Sixth Form College. I was Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of Whitecross School and Sports College from 1993 and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Halo Community Leisure Trust from its inception in 2002. In 1978 I in augurated the County Sports Council. I was awarded the Queens Diamond Jubilee Award for Excellence in Sport in Herefordshire and in 2012 the BEM for Services to County Sport in 2019.