Faces of Reading

I work full time, but I work from home 4 days a week. Managers are very good at giving us that flexibility.

I have Becker Muscular Dystrophy, and people have been very supportive without being patronising. Part of the reason for working from home is to help manage my fatigue. I live in Reading, I came here when I was 18 as a student and have more or less stayed here ever since. I had been commuting to Oxford – I was at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust before – which was getting a bit too tiring. It's better now I'm working a lot closer to home.

The team from Estates and Facilities also came in and created a kind of frame by my desk so I can get up easily, which has been really helpful. Everyone in the office will help out if I need anything too; it's been a positive experience.

As well as my two regular clubs, I teach a group of pupils with learning disabilities once a month.

I started training in martial arts when I was 15 and really enjoyed it; I'm now a black belt, 3rd Dan. I found it beneficial to me physically, because I have cerebral palsy, and it helped with socialising as well.

I was lucky enough to be taught by a very good instructor, he is now the other instructor at the club and still trains me.

I'm in a wheelchair occasionally, but at work I'm sat down behind the desk most of the time with supportive staff around me. If I'm struggling a bit, there's always a way round it. Everyone is helpful and friendly, which always makes things easier.

I'm always keen to take opportunities to put on martial arts demonstrations to share it with the University and wider local community.

In February 2020, I became co-Chair of the LGBTQIA+ staff network. I identify as Gay and Jewish. I feel very fortunate to work in a welcoming space where my sexual orientation is something I can celebrate as opposed to something which is just tolerated: where I can be ‘out and proud’. The rainbow flag flies high on IDAHOBIT, and the university quite rightly celebrates each year the contribution of its then Chancellor, Lord Wolfenden, to the acceptance of gay people through his authorship of the famous Wolfenden Report. 

Shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown, I was fortunate to marry my husband (and now law school colleague), Professor David Bilchitz, in a progressive Jewish egalitarian Vegan gay wedding in South Africa. David and I wrote about our experiences in the Jewish Report.

I am passionate about advancing LGBTQIA+ rights in the UK and globally, especially in respect of ensuring asylum-seekers' access to protection for persecution and in working with Parliamentarians, civil society organisations, practitioners, and recognised refugees.   

When it comes to my Jewish identity, given its distressing prevalence, I feel blessed to have never experienced antisemitism on campus. Unlike other institutions, Reading does not hold lectures, seminars, or examinations on the Jewish Sabbath, and when I flagged up the challenge posed for prospective Jewish students with holding open and visit days only on Saturdays, additional dates were added. Hence, it strikes me that the question at – and for Reading – is not about willingness to accommodate, but about awareness and visibility: the public calendar which the University follows is centred around Christian holidays (notably Christmas and Easter) whereas festivals of minority faiths like Divali, Eid, or Yom Kippur are not publicly recognised. I know that this can and will change. 

In those early weeks, being open about how I felt and what I needed made a real difference – it allowed me to show up with confidence. It helped that colleagues in my wider network were hugely supportive too – genuinely excited to hear about my little one and how he’s settled with us.

Working part time can be intense. You have to be laser-focused and well-planned to get everything done, and there’s often limited time for the 'nice stuff' in the flurry of emails and meetings. But it’s worth it – especially knowing I still have a job I love when my son starts school in September, in a workplace that supports the realities of family life.