I'm a lifelong learner and it's in my professional DNA to keep on learning. If I think about the leaders I've followed they've also been committed to continuous learning, never considering themselves to have 'arrived'.
At university, I studied subjects I cared about and I flew through my masters in human rights and equal opportunities law and policy in the mid-90s because I was fired up by inequality and injustice. I've continued to study, but I don't think my richest learning has necessarily been in a classroom.
There are so many ways to learn and The BU recognises that. I spend a lot of time travelling and I often listen to podcasts as I go, Northern Power Women podcast and Feel Better, Live More are on my subscription list. I think that learning should be stretching and challenging to us. It should widen the horizons of our thinking.
I'm really excited by the opportunities The BU will open up and I want to encourage people to think creatively about their engagement in learning. Just as none of us will be the finished article, if The BU lives up to its ambition, it won't ever be the finished product and it's for all of us to help shape it.
Learning is a constant motion. We're pushing at the boundaries of our traditional ways of working in Barnardo's, going into some unknown territories in strategic partnerships and projects focused on achieving system change. I want to continue to develop and deliver high-quality, high-impact work that really changes the lives of those we serve - and influences change for those we don't.
Lynn Perry
Corporate Director of Children’s Services (Interim) and head of The BU's children’s services faculty.