Originally from Golcar, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire, Dianne worked as a midwife for the whole of her career. Her job took her to North Wales, Somerset, Toronto, Buffalo New York, Maidenhead and of course, Stoke.

Originally she moved to Stoke-on-Trent to be with her partner at the time, unfortunately things didn’t go to plan, “To put it very bluntly, as a Yorkshire woman would, he dumped me. So there you go! *Laughter*. So there you go, but I was happy. I mean I came, I had lovely friends up here [...]”. She worked as a midwife in a hospital setting and then in the community until she retired in 2015.

Dianne is a project leader for the Burselm Jubilee Project alongside her friend and project manager Sheila Podmore. Located at Burslem Lighthouse church, Burslem Jubilee offers support, companionship and activities to all asylum seekers and refugees within the local community., “We involve all our attendees with community activities, people are very welcoming [and] helpful. I think it’s very nice, very good place.”