Career Focus

In our careers section, we invite alumni to give us an insight into their career and life journeys since leaving their School. We are grateful to Rich, Lora and Alex for sharing their stories.

Safeguarding Manager at the English Football League Alex Richards

né e Morris (Class of 1997)

Ijoined Our Lady’s Convent School in 1983 at four years old. I left aft er completing my A levels in 1997. The school was my constant and leaving was a hard transition as I had never known anything diff erent.

As part of my Head Girl’s speech at Prize Giving, I focused on the fact that OLCS was about creating rounded individuals with good morals who had achieved academically to the best of their ability. I was not a high achiever - I did well in my GCSEs and found A levels hard. What I did not realise at the time was that the moral and spiritual education that I had received would influence my career path.

Transition from my safe place, my school to university, was confusing and scary. I did not know what I wanted to do at all aft er school, just that I did want to do a degree. I was given some advice and told to do something that I enjoyed. I had always loved history and so I opted for that. I liked it so much that I went on to complete my Masters as well. I spent four amazing years at university and met my husband aged 21.

We wanted to settle down and get on the property ladder, so it was time for me to look for employment. I saw a short-term contract advertised at the University of Sunderland working within student welfare administration. I took the role and ended up working within the department for five years. Next, I applied for a role at a local Further Education College, again in student welfare, this time gaining experience of working with under 18s. I was always willing to take on new challenges, expand my learning and push myself out of my comfort zone. During my 12 years at the College, I became Designated Safeguarding Lead and worked my way up to the role of Assistant Principal managing a large student welfare department.

In 2018 my husband asked me when I had last interviewed for a job. I realised that it had been over a decade and that I needed to ensure that I could perform in a competitive environment. I started to look in The Guardian for national positions that would suit my experience, where I saw a role advertised for Head of Safeguarding for The English Football League. It appealed to me as I wanted to use my skills from education in a new industry. Aft er two nerve wracking interviews, I was off ered the job and we relocated to the Northwest of England three years ago.

I love working with such a wide range of organisations. We have 72 football clubs across England and Wales, making up the Championship, League One and League Two of Professional football. I work closely with other key stakeholders in the industry, the FA and the Premier League and travel around the country ensuring that Clubs meet the safeguarding standards we set.

Working in safeguarding is a privilege but does have an impact on you as an individual. You need to have a strong conviction and passion to do this type of role. My motivation is to ensure that children, young people and adults at risk are not only safe from harm but that they can thrive in whatever activity or environment they are in, reaching their potential and becoming well rounded individuals with good social skills and morals. I feel as though I have come full circle - how I described the School’s ethos at the Prize Giving as Head Girl is now my vocation and I look back at my school years with nothing but gratitude and happy memories.

Communications Business Partner at Rolls Royce Submarines Rich Whelband

(Class of 1997)

Iremember vividly the first conversation I ever had about a career beyond Burton Walks at the age of 14. My mum was driving me to school and she asked the age-old question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I said that I enjoyed writing so mum proposed either a journalist or a politician. I said that I didn’t like lying so probably a journalist then, clearly blissfully unaware of the media’s track record for also telling fibs. But from that point on I felt like I finally had something to aim for.

A mere 28 years later I am now sat at my computer, desperately trying to cobble together a story of what can only be described as a patchwork quilt of roles in diff erent industries and disciplines, mostly in the media. The one thing that is consistent is that without self-belief, I know I wouldn’t have had half the experiences or taken half the risks that have led me to where I am now. I know for a fact that this self-belief came from my time at LGS.

With a newly-found purpose I set about working towards a media career through multiple work experience visits to the Loughborough Echo, Leicester Mercury, Oak FM and Radio Leicester. This experience combined with my modest A-level grades led to a place at the University of Central Lancashire where I did a BA (hons) in Journalism, followed by a Masters in Online Journalism. Probably the most memorable, if not sobering, experience there was covering the Harold Shipman trial, which was held at Preston Crown Court.

While completing my Masters, I had already started working at a new website called Rugby.com as their Rugby Union Editor. As a life-long rugby fan this was a dream come true. By day I was writing news stories about rugby and in the evenings, I was interviewing the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Austin Healey and Richard Hill. But, like most websites without a solid business plan in the early 2000s, the dot.com bubble burst and the business collapsed. I used this opportunity to do some travelling and when I came back a few months later, I was desperate to get back into writing. This took me down a completely diff erent path working for a corporate communications agency in Leamington Spa.

Having experienced writing about something I really cared about, I did question whether I could summon the same passion when asked to write about supermarkets, fast food chains and security companies for internal staff magazines. I certainly struggled at first, but I remember my editor explaining that, in anything you do, you “just need to find the love for it”. So, I did. I realised that writing is about the audience, not about me, and really started to enjoy meeting and working with so many employees from so many diff erent walks of life. In total I was with the agency for seven years (with a year out to scratch the itch of running a chalet for a ski season) and during that time I got to play football with national sports journalists in front of Sven-Göran Eriksson, attend the Labour Party Conference in Brighton with G4S, cover the McDonald’s annual conference in Barcelona, shake hands with Geoff Hurst, while holding the FIFA World Cup and, most importantly, build life-long friendships with some amazing and gift ed writers.

My next step was working in-house as a Communications Executive for logistics company TNT, before moving on to a role as Internal Communications Manager at Lloyds Pharmacy. It was here that I was tasked with telling the story of the 16,000 staff working across the 1,600 pharmacies in the UK, which was a humbling experience. I was also given free rein to be a little less corporate, arranging for all staff to get involved in a world record attempt (the largest number of simultaneous blood pressure tests) as well as convince the CEO to swim with sharks on video to highlight the impact stress can have on blood pressure! From here I learnt that corporate doesn’t have to mean boring.

Aft er a brief stint contracting at E.On, I moved to become Head of Internal Communications, and then overall Head of Communications, at Aggregate Industries. This was a company that essentially took rocks out of the ground and turned them into diff erent building products. Yet again, I was challenged to “find the love”. It didn’t take long as it was our materials that built much of the 2012 Olympic Park and the concrete core for The Shard. My boss at the time told me it was very rare to work somewhere that makes something that pretty much everyone in the UK will come into contact with on

With Marty Jopson from The One Show at Glensanda.

a daily basis. Be that roads, buildings, train track ballast, flood defences etc.

One highlight there was arranging for the BBC’s The One Show to pay a visit to the biggest granite quarry in Europe called Glensanda in the highlands of Scotland. We were essentially quarrying the inside of a mountain peninsular, with all material taken away on enormous self-loading cargo ships and they wanted to film the operation. However, aft er five years I was looking for a new challenge and one came up that I just couldn’t turn down.

In 2017 I joined Rolls-Royce Submarines, heading up their internal, external and crisis comms function. The business designs, builds and maintains the nuclear propulsion systems that power the Royal Navy’s fleet of nuclear submarines – seven attack submarines and the four ballistics boats that maintain the UK’s continuous at sea nuclear deterrent.

The opportunity to work for a prestigious business such as Rolls-Royce was tempting in itself but the chance to join a business with that level of strategic national importance was just too much to turn down. In 2019 I had the opportunity to tour one of the docked Vanguard class boats that hold the Trident missile system and it was an eye-opening experience. For anyone that watched the recent BBC drama Vigil and thought it looked quite claustrophobic, in reality the brave men and women on board these boats, constantly underwater for months at a time, have less than half the space portrayed in the programme. I had an even greater respect for their dedication and duty aft er that visit.

From the day I joined Rolls-Royce Submarines to the current day, I have never once had to “find the love” for my subject matter. It was evident in the immense pride and passion that all 3,400 employees exude every day and this truly came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the start, the whole workforce were designated key worker status and the business did not miss a beat. Over 50% of the teams were on site every day, manufacturing critical components, maintaining our commitments to the Royal Navy and working to keep the UK safe from other, less publicised, threats. The remaining employees, myself included, were charged with maintaining our own commitments from home – communication naturally being at the forefront of priorities as we all navigated uncertain waters brought about by the virus.

Present day, and, while being first and foremost a Submarines business, we are embarking on new, equally exciting opportunities. We are challenging our uniquely gift ed nuclear experts to develop power solutions for use in space, alongside the UK Space Agency, and back on earth through the development of Small Modular and Deployable Reactors, to answer the Government’s call for renewable energy. Every day is something diff erent.

So, while it has been a varied and, at times, frantic career, I really do have a lot to thank both my mum and LGS for when it came to inspiring me, encouraging me and giving me the best possible foundations to believe in myself and those around me.

© Crown copyright

Fostering Lora Starkings

(Class of 1999)

When I left school, I was all set to follow in my parents’ footsteps as a teacher. Unlike them, I chose primary teaching as I felt more at home with the under 10s as opposed to teens! I went north, to Bradford, a town near my grandparents house so that I was never far away from home cooking or my cousins. Whilst there, I had a placement in a nursery and fell in love with the thought of playing, creating and nurturing the under 5s. So, with my degree in education, I came home and started an NVQ in Childcare at a local nursery. Seven years went very quickly; I completed my NVQ, managed several of the rooms at the nursery and gained my early years professional status.

Not fully satisfied working at a nursery, I hung up the uniform and made my way into nannying, thinking of all the experiences I could get working much more closely with the families. Firstly, I worked as a ‘live-in’, down in Cambridge, then, aft er meeting someone, I came home and got a job in Leicestershire. Tragedy struck in 2010, when my partner died, but with the loving support of my amazing parents, and a job looking aft er three amazing children, I was able to carry on.

Nannying brought lots of challenges, from getting an 18 month old adventurous little girl down from a tree, to traipsing around Bradgate or Beacon Hill in the rain, as well as finding activities to keep the three children occupied. I loved nannying. We enjoyed many holidays together and I felt very privileged to be a part of the family. Unfortunately, when my youngest ‘charge ‘ started school, I felt lost. I had grown to love these children as my own as well as becoming good friends with their parents. I still seem them now and they are growing up to be amazing young people. I am hugely proud of them.

I went on to look, and subsequently work for, other families, but I never found the right fit. Nannying was changing, as was I. I had always had an urge to start a family, but with health problems as well as unsuitable partners, I wasn’t sure how - until one day when I saw an advert for Leicester City fostering on the side of a bus! I had long chats with my mum about whether I should and remember my dad telling me to have a try. No matter what I wanted in life, my parents always supported me, and I knew they would be behind me in this adventure as well.

Aft er attending an open evening, I was fast tracked through a gruelling process, having to talk about my schooling, finances, family, how I was parented and relationships, as well as my support network and who I could call on in times of need and support. Naturally this position fell to my parents, particularly my mum, Megan, who had been my rock throughout my life. My mum was fiercely proud of all the barriers I had overcome and knew I was capable of giving vulnerable children a home. I had always wanted to be a mum – this is how it was going to happen.

So, my dad, Mel, scoured the local area for toys and my mum helped me build furniture; friends donated cots, stair-gates, toys and clothes. And then we were sent a date for the approvals panel. Worse than any interview or being called to the Head’s Off ice as a child, this panel consisted of 14 individuals with diff ering expertise and responsibility in social services. Mum answered questions as any respectful High School teacher would and presented the panel with an image of a daughter who fights for what is right and hates the word no. A mere ten minutes later, we were invited back in from a side room to be given the resounding thumbs up. I was approved as a foster carer in July 2016 – and then the waiting game began!

Thrown in at the deep end, my first sibling pair (two boys, aged 6 and 4) arrived with the eldest hating school and food being an issue for the youngest who was tiny. The boys were constantly on the go and I was doing it single-handed, although my mum would get nightly calls to ask for advice and my dad would whisk them off for a farm visit or tractor ride. My parents were, and my dad still is, a huge support and the children adored them. As a family we enjoyed trips to Leicester Tigers, Pantos, London and for holidays. They blossomed and their pictures joined those of my parents’ other grandchildren on display. Then, in January 2018, the best thing

Lora with mum Megan

happened – they were adopted.

I remember that week as if it were yesterday – meeting the new parents (who were nervous of course), encouraging and reassuring the children, driving them to their new home. It was my proudest moment, knowing that it was the best thing that could happen to those boys. We are still in touch – the now 11 year-old is at secondary school and his brother still as cheeky as ever with a smile to melt your heart.

My boys settled and starting a new life, Mum and I took some respite in a trip to Egypt for some sun, cocktails and snorkeling! We returned tanned, relaxed and ready for the next challenge.

Then a phone call saying two children, due to be reunited with their mum, needed a few months in care. This time a boy and a girl, I got ready to open my heart and home. They were with me two terms before I was thanked for helping them make the transition back home a happy one.

Next, a single child - a 13 year old girl, who didn’t want to be living at home, who needed a carer as an emergency. I remember explaining to social services that I was not qualified to handle teens, but then who is!? What I did know was that mum and dad had 80 years+ experience of teens between them, so I was confident I could handle a few nights, or a week, with a troubled teen. We went to Alton Towers, we went shopping, to the cinema, to rugby matches, we watched films. This girl just wanted to be accepted and loved. However, a few nights turned into seven weeks, and the teen became dejected with life. My mum then became an advocate for her with social services and spent many an aft ernoon helping her with her education, her social skills and generally acting as a good ‘Gran’. It really does take a village to raise children. Eventually, she was found a place and moved late August. Another holiday and precious time with my mum and mentor.

In October 2018, aft er a training event for fostering, a phone call came asking me to place two girls (aged 8 and 10) out of a sibling group of four. Eventually I was asked to consider having the girls until they were 18 as they were not expected to be going home. Mum and dad were onboard again; the youngest fosterling had an amazing

relationship with both my dad and partner; and the new school was working well. So I agreed to become their long term foster mum. It would mean a lot of hard work but it felt doable. This was of course before COVID-19 hit, and my mum’s cancer diagnosis. Just before COVID-19 hit, the older of the two sisters decided she wanted to live with an older sister, so I now had to prepare them for more change and separation from each other. As the pandemic took grip, life as we knew it changed. I had to be there to support my foster daughter as everything changed - schooling, her safe space, seeing friends, seeing my mum. Then in February 2021, my mum died. I went from caring for a vulnerable child, to also caring for my grieving dad, who still works at LHS. Dad’s support never wanes, however. He loves taking my daughter on bus and tram trips, going for walks and having bonfires in the garden. We have regular pizza parties at his house and we give my foster daughter the experience of family. She is included. She is safe. She is home. When I left school, I wasn’t an overly high achiever, but I came away with more. Going to Loughborough High School helped me to broaden my networks and I’ve been incredibly lucky to meet some pretty awesome people in my life! I made some amazingly strong Lora’s dad Mel High School friendships that have travelled through into adulthood, supported them when needed, like they supported me. The School gave me so many amazing opportunities to grow, be it a trip abroad or reading with Fairfield children, as well as RE lessons with Mrs Needham and Mrs Thirlwell which really inspired me to grow my faith. I spent the last 20 years watching my parents nurture and support hundreds of LHS and LGS students to become who they always wanted to be. My mum was always passionate about that. To be the best you is the best you can do. These influences have meant that I now strive to give children the love, care and opportunities needed to become the best they can be. This year, I celebrated five years of fostering. The hardest yet most rewarding path I could have taken.