We want you to learn more about our amazing volunteers. So… this week our brilliant volunteer Sushila is going to tell you a little bit about themself.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Nairobi, Kenya and lived there until I was 9. Then I moved to Nakuru in the Kenyan Rift Valley as my father moved jobs. I lived there until I was 13, before I went to boarding school in Bangalore, South India. I’d spend my holidays in Goa with my mother’s family as it was too expensive and too far to travel back to Kenya.
I started my first year at university in India in 1968, and later I returned to Kenya to join my family in October of that year. They were moving to live here in the UK at the time, and we’d eventually arrive in England on 22nd November 1969.
What is one of your best memories from childhood?
Playing outdoors in trees, pretending we had houses in them, also playing at camping under blankets draped over washing lines, both these were in Kenya
What was/is your job?
I originally worked as a Computer Programmer for 3 years and subsequently moved to work as a residential social worker. I qualified as a generic Social Worker in 1983, and moved to work in Adoption and Fostering in 1987. I worked in this field until 2017 when I retired from professional work. I worked in Leeds & Bradford, but in later years I worked across the North of England as a Consultant in the same field.
What is one of your best memories from your working life?
Seeing a young person that I had placed for Adoption as a child grow up to be a confident and lovely person.
Do you have any hobbies you enjoy?
Cooking, cross-stitch, reading.
What is your favourite song?
Several songs as they all have special memories… early Beatles numbers as a school girl, ‘Bridge over Troubled Waters’, ‘Imagine’…
What do you normally do when volunteering your time to the theatre?
I’ve worked on the bar & front-of-house, and once or twice did some cleaning.
What is one of your best memories from volunteering with ERT?
I’ve enjoyed the pressure of working on the bar, particularly when it’s busy, but I’ve also enjoyed being front-of-house where I can have more time to talk to the other volunteers and get to know them.
And finally, what has been your favourite ERT production?
Beryl and all the Christmas productions.
