A Tale of Two Lives

Helen grew up as a RAF Brat and dreamed of being a pilot herself but failed the medical due to having had hay fever (the RAF considered it risky trying to land an aircraft and sneezing at the wrong moment).Throughout her childhood and early career in pr, advertising and marketing and getting married and having a family, she concealed the secret that she was transgendered. In 1998, she accepted that she needed to transition. Losing one job as a consequence, she joined Greater Manchester Probation as IT help desk manager. As the first openly trans employee nationally she provided awareness training for probation and prison staff (and others) and became the de facto lead on trans issues.She persuaded the then Lesbian and Gay staff association (LAGIP) to extend its membership criteria to include trans and bisexual members and spent several years as chair. She also helped to found a: gender - the UK pan-Civil Service trans support network and was made an honorary life member when she retired in 2015. She served on local and national diversity boards and chaired a trans charity in Manchester as well as training as a counsellor. Her work was recognised with several awards including a Butler Trust Award presented by HRH Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.Since retiring, she has continued to present workshops on trans issues and provide counselling for trans individuals. She has also become a volunteer with Diversity Role Models - going into schools and talking to students about homophobic, transphobic and biphobic bullying.She has a website for her writing at www.helendaleuthor.info