About

Well, what is there to know about me?!

I spent most of my childhood in Dorset, having moved to East Anglia to attend Essex University at Colchester, and I am still here 8 years later! I originally trained in Sport and Exercise Science with an MSc in Physiotherapy, but on graduation from the latter found that there were no jobs around and after a couple of years of job hunting I decided to pursue an alternative career which I had kept ticking along while at uni – working in IT.

My partner and I are now settled in Ipswich, having bought our first house together in October 2009 which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time!

I was fortunate enough to get a job working for an independent school in Ipswich, and had a really fantastic couple of years there as IT Technician. This led to me getting my next job as Surveillance & Audit Officer for NHS Suffolk which I held until early 2010 when I took the opportunity after a spell of ill health to work 3 days a week, while focussing 2 days a week when I had the energy, on my business. After a short period of time, I had the opportunity to move into full time self employment, running my own business.

I run Virya Technologies, offering IT Support and Website Design along ethical guidelines, as a “Right Livelihood” business. We work with clients from around the world on website redesign, new site launches, tweaking existing systems and advising on intranet setups. We specialise in the Joomla! Content Management System which I am very passionate about, and am gradually becoming more involved with the community when time permits!

In my “spare” time *cough* I have numerous interests, including:

  • Field hockey – I play in goal but am taking a break at the moment as my hypermobility meant I was regularly getting whiplash and problems with my joints after games
  • Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – I am an adult leader (voluntary) with Woodbridge Open Gold Group and am currently training for my Mountain Leaders qualification – lots of fitness work to be done (not to mention navigation and all that malarkey!) but have had to take time off due to problems associated with my hypermobility meaning I cannot walk more than a couple of miles.
  • My cats! I have a 3 year old and a recent addition, a 12 month old kitten. Both have Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV – the cat equivalent to HIV) and they are both an absolute joy! They are not allowed to be with other cats in case they pick up any bugs or pass it on, but they live a very happy life in our new house!
  • Buddhism is one of my main interests, something that underpins everything I do. I have made some definite changes in my life to align with the Buddhist path I follow. I regularly attend Colchester Buddhist centre having started going to their beginners sessions in December 2009. I also helped to found the Ipswich and Colchester Next Generation Group which meets every 3 weeks for young people (under 35) who are interested in Buddhism.
  • Gardening is something I am developing an interest and ability with – probably nurtured by my mum always having us out in the garden when we were growing up! I’ve got a fairly small and manageable garden but am looking at getting something a little bigger to grow vegetables and flowers. I don’t often have as much time to dedicate to the garden but when I do manage to get out there I really love it!