NEW Dorset Community Foundation trustee Michelle Howard said she hopes her long experience of law and the health and social care sector will benefit the charity.
Michelle, who grew up in Branksome, is joining the community foundation on returning to the county where she spent her youth after working in Wiltshire in law and health for more than 30 years.
She will also bring another perspective to the role – she has been paralysed from the chest down since she was 16.
Michelle was just a few months into studying for her A-levels at Parkstone Grammar School when she went into hospital for a routine jaw operation. “Unfortunately when I came round from the anaesthetic I was paralysed,” she said. “That was 43 years ago and to this day nobody’s ever been able to say exactly what caused the paralysis.
“As they say, life takes interesting turns on occasions and that was one of those interesting turns to say the least.”
She was left with no feeling or movement below her chest and although she is able to use her arms, she cannot move her fingers. “I always say to people, I’m very fortunate to have had support from a wonderful family, not just immediate family but also relatives,” she said. “And the wider community of friends and the local community as well, without all of that, it would have been a lot harder.”
She had an early experience of what a caring community feels like when staff at Boots, where she had a Saturday job before the operation, raised money to buy her an Apple computer. “The whole of the south west branches of Boots did fundraising for me, which paid for my first computer,” she said. “The Bournemouth Echo came and did an article about it.”
Pupils at Parkstone Grammar School did a sponsored walk along the seafront to raise money for her first electric profiling bed and other equipment.
I’m very fortunate to have had support from a wonderful family, not just immediate family but also relative
While she has grown up with advancing technology that has made communication and mobility easier – she uses a voice activated computer and tablet and an electric wheelchair – it is her steely determination to make a difference that has been the most telling factor in her life.
Undaunted by her disability, she returned to her home and her school – despite the local authority wanting to send her away to a special school in Hampshire – to finish her A-levels before she studied law in Southampton.
“From about the age of 12, I knew I wanted to study the law and hopefully become a lawyer,” she said. “And at least that was something that I was still able to pursue.”
She completed her qualifications at a law firm in Swindon, the only one prepared to take her on, and ended up staying in the area. She became chair of NHS Swindon and then chaired SEQOL, an employee led social enterprise in Swindon delivering integrated NHS and social care community services.
She has also worked with a number of charities and been a school governor on a voluntary basis and now works as a regional care manager for a specialist live-in care provider.
She has moved back to Dorset to be closer to her family after the sudden death of her stepfather. “I work from home so it doesn’t matter where I am,” she said. “We found a bungalow in Broadstone big enough for my mother, my live-in carer and I and my sister is close by. It’s lovely to be back and I’ve enjoyed catching up with old friends.”
She said she wanted to get involved with the community foundation because of a desire to help others. “As youngsters, my sister and I had it instilled in us by our parents that we’re put on this planet not only to look after ourselves but also people who are less fortunate,” she said. “So we’ve always been looking to where we can help in our communities.
“When I was involved with charities in Swindon I helped them apply to Wiltshire Community Foundation for funding so I know what they do and I’m a great advocate of them.
“I like them because the vast majority of the voluntary sector that makes the real impact, the real difference to people’s lives, are those small, grass roots projects – and community foundations support them with small grants that really make a difference. That is what community foundations can do and are doing on a daily basis.”
She said she jumped at the chance to become a trustee. “I hope that my experience of health and social care in particular, and my knowledge of the charitable sector can help the foundation grow,” she said. “I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
