Helen Gascoyne Marketing and Development Director

I would like to thank the St. Beghian Society for the opportunity to tell you all a little bit about myself as I start my St. Bees School journey.
My family originates from the Midlands. My two sisters and I were born in Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare country!  We moved to Parbold near Wigan in Lancashire when my father’s job moved to Liverpool and this is where my formative years were spent.
At the age of 18 I chose to go to the opposite end of the country to study an Environmental Science degree at Polytechnic South-West, which is now known as Plymouth University. I gained a 2:1 Hons degree which then lead me to apply for a role in the Environmental Protection Team at Sellafield.
I joined Sellafield in 1992 and spent 17 years in a variety of roles from environmental protection through to joining the Press Office and latterly joining the Human Resources Department (HR).  Whilst in HR I was fortunate to undertake a broad range of activities, which have provided me with a good grounding of employment law and personnel-related activities.  My last role at Sellafield was as Head of Talent Management, looking after leadership and management training and development for employees as well as all of the academic learning available to the staff, plus the graduates and students joining the site from university.
Having worked at Sellafield for so long I was really looking for a new challenge and an opportunity to do something completely different; hence the move to St. Bees School, and although it is early days I can honestly say that I should have done this years ago!
Everyone at school has been very welcoming and friendly and I have made a lot of new friends already.  I think the school is fantastic and has so much to offer its pupils that I am very pleased to be a part of it.  I hope to be able to open up new markets for the school and welcome in particular the children of H.M. forces and a broader base of international students.
I am very keen to get to know as many Old St. Beghians as I can and have started work on the many opportunities and contacts some of you have already provided for me.
I look forward to helping St. Bees School continue to produce successful, happy and well-rounded young adults.

Helen Gascoyne.