Anna Bell

First job - summer 1980 - freelance graphics packaging illustrations for a York printing company.

October 1980 - a post in PR at of Yorkshire Water Authority head office. Part of it was designing angling and staff newsletters but also organising a carnival float for Leeds Lord Mayor’s parade. I left in summer 1981 

Moved to part-time work in Bradford University Educational Development department, producing visual aids materials for all the University departments. They put me in touch with a small design company in central Bradford. So I did mornings at one site and afternoons at the other.

1982 - left for a similar but full-time post at Huddersfield University, where I stayed for 4 years.

1986 - Similar audio-visual post at Sheffield University, more money. Made animated sequences, generated on a Matisse workstation, for inclusion in teaching materials.

Married in 1989, had 2 sons by 1992, having given up my marvellous job to be a full-time mum.

1994. Domestic finances necessitated further employment. Worked at a nearby health service management consultancy, mainly doing Powerpoint presentations, but left because they were fat cats basically robbing the NHS and bothering my conscience.

1995 - Designing ads using Freehand and Quark Express in the advertising section of Huddersfield Examiner newspaper. Over the next 8 years the design element reduced significantly reducing creative requirement and the work became mainly desktop publishing, including importing images from ClipArt.

Time to look for something different - in that geographical area, design opportunities were rare, so after a market research foray, examining what careers were crying out for recruits, I enrolled on a local degree course in Podiatry, having more than adequate qualifications and got a bursary. I really enjoyed learning a completely different discipline, surprised at my ability to absorb and assimilate information at the great age of 44. 2005 - Qualified with BSc (Hons). Got work initialy as locums, one for Scholl, another with York NHS Trust, eventually landing at Bradford NHS.  2006 - left for a permanent post at Kirklees & Calderdale Trust. Almost as soon as I started there, Bradford advertised for a higher grade permanent post, so I went for that, having already experienced the work there for nearly a year. Remained in that role for the next 15 years, specialising in nail surgery (yes, removing ingrowing toenails) - demanding but rewarding. Worked almost throughout Covid, transitioning into wound care, particularly for diabetic patients.

2022 - Wanted to reduce working hours to 15 weekly, but this wasn’t an option. Spent my final year managing a private podiatry practice near home, 15 hours a week. Sorted.

2023 - Retired. Comparing graphic design with podiatry may seem from sublime to weird, but really appreciated both my careers, with the change probably providing a sense of adventure.