Kathy joined DDCVS in November 2025 as Children and Young People Researcher. Her research aims to gain a cohesive picture of the opportunities and challenges that children and young people in the Derbyshire Dales face. DDCVS intend to use the research to inform decision making about future service provision and projects that will benefit children and young people.

Kathy has a PhD in Victorian Literature (Pre-Raphaelite and Working-Class Poetry), which she finished in 2014. Since then, she has completed research projects for a range of organisations in the Third and Education sectors. She has a strong sense of social justice and has always been drawn to projects which aim to improve outcomes for service users.

In her free time, she is learning French and Spanish and plays the piano. She also enjoys being in green spaces and often combines this with being part of her local running club. She is a keen parkrunner and has taken part in all of the parkruns based in the Derbyshire Dales area – Monsal Trail, Black Rocks and Ashbourne Recreation Ground.