Hi , I’m Karen Swayne and I am the current Chair of the PPG.
I have lived in this area for the past 3 years, although I have lived in Lincolnshire for many more. I have a background of working for the NHS and within the community and I believe that Willingham Surgery provides a wonderful service to its patients and to the wider community. I saw joining the PPG as an opportunity to be part of that. Along with my fellow PPG members, we represent patients and provide input to the Surgery to further develop what they offer, to meet local needs and to expand the services available. We have some exciting initiatives planned and are always looking for new ideas and ways to support the Surgery team and importantly, the patients. If you would like to be a part of the PPG, or would like to find out more, please email me at willingham.ppg@gmail.org, or take a look at the information in the Surgery.
Hi my name is Sarah. I was a nurse for many years in Manchester working in women’s health. I trained and practiced as a person centred counsellor and complimentary therapist, whilst raising my two children as a single parent. Since then I have continued to work within the health and social care sectors in various roles. I have worked supporting carers, those living with Dementia and victims of domestic violence. I am currently working with health and social care providers, supporting thier quality monitoring and business development. Along with my husband, we keep bees, enjoy growing our own produce and living the good life. I would love to welcome new members to the group, who represent our wider community.
Hello. My name is Alison Robins and my husband and I are both retired and live in Lea Village . My career was as a teacher and university lecturer, where my area of expertise was special educational needs. I currently work as a volunteer for the Witness Service which is part of Citizens Advice. I am excited to be part of our practice PPG, working alongside practice staff and patients to further develop communication and services.
I am Jen Carr. I have lived local for more than eighteen years. I have home educated, and raised my own ten children, along with my husband.
As I only have one left to educate, I work as a Housekeeper, and a Social Researcher. I am also doing a Nutrition and Healthy Eating course with Lincoln college. I am particularly passionate about helping people to make better, and healthier choices as I know from experience how this can impact disease, aging, and energy levels, and health!
I also enjoy reading, keeping fit, playing in an amateur orchestra, learning new things. I just recently completed Couch25K, when I thought I would never do it, and didn’t enjoy running.
Hi I am Sandy Carter. My first career was in nursing and I trained in the military, QARANC for three years. On completion I decided to further train as a midwife which I did a the Royal London Hospital. I returned to general nursing but sadly after two years I sustained a quite a serious back injury and was advised to reconsider my nursing career. I took this advice and decided to study for a career in teaching in North London in 1972.
During my teaching in Comprehensive School I met and married my husband Geoff. During the holidays we would work in our local pub. This is what led to our desire to leave teaching and take up a new career in hospitality, which we did. We took over a rundown free house in the Chiltern Hills and developed it into an award winning pub restaurant, with further extensions into wholesale wine and outside catering. We sold the business in 2001, after 20 years and moved to Lincolnshire. We both returned to part-time teaching until we retired.
We are proud owners of three lovely golden retrievers that are all registered PAT dogs. Two are working and one is now retired. I have worked with therapy dogs for over 20 years in schools, the NHS and care homes. I am a school governor at a local primary school, which I enjoy immensely. As I still appear to have energy and enthusiasm I decided recently to join the local surgery PPG and look forward very much to being a part of the team.
Hi, my name is Maria and most of my varied career has involved working with the NHS. I trained and worked as a Registered General Nurse in the 1980s and 1990s. I then moved into teaching health related subjects and statistics in Further & Higher Education before commencing a 12 year career in Health Services Research at The University of Aberdeen. I have a PhD in Public Health and much of my research involved: listening to and presenting the views and experiences of patients and members of the public; identifying NHS priorities for improvement; exploring barriers to improving healthcare for patients.
I retired from my research role in 2014 and moved back from Scotland to Lincolnshire in 2016. I remain passionate about our NHS and have served as a Public Representative on a number of NHS committees and as a Trustee of a charity that focuses on driving positive change in health, social care and wellbeing. I joined the PPG as it is important to me that I contribute my time, effort and experience to the community in which I live.
Hello I am Ivor Warriner and I live in Upton. I am a retired Contract Manager for the Road Transport Industry. Now retired, my interests are gardening & I am a season ticket holder for Gainsborough Trinity.
Jon started his career as a graduate trainee with Clarks Shoes. After twenty years he switched to the charity sector specialising in fundraising for Guide Dogs and the Air Ambulance sector and set up the Fundraising Regulator. Formerly Chairman of Springline. In his later career, Jon specialised in NHS Hospital Charities as a fundraising consultant.
Hi, I’m Paul, I’m retired and I live in Willingham by Stow. My hobbies are gardening, growing as many vegetables as I can, reading and D.I.Y. I was raised in Grimsby but I’ve lived in several parts of the country including Norfolk, Northumberland and Kent.
Before retiring, I worked initially as a product development technologist for Findus Foods then went on to join Marks and Spencer as part of a team responsible for auditing suppliers’ factories to ensure the safety and quality of our range of fish products; a job which took me everywhere from Greenland to South America.
I moved up to Willingham two years ago when I got married, (my wife having lived in the village for over 35 years). It’s a lovely place to live and, whilst I’m enjoying the quality and pace of life here, for a while now I’ve wanted to do something to contribute to the village.
Willingham surgery has a great reputation because of the hard work and dedication of the staff who work there and the support which the PPG provides. I decided to join the group in the hope that I can help improve the already excellent service that the practice provides.
