No two days are the same in the life of Anita Grover, Auditory Verbal UK’s CEO. Here she talks us through a busy July day of meetings and gives a snap shot of life at a national charity…

6.45am: Time for breakfast and a chat with my twins before their last day in Year 4.

7.30am: My journey to work starts at Chesham tube station and takes about 75 mins. It always involves coffee, scanning the morning news; catching up on social media and reading preparation for the day ahead. 

8.45am: I arrive at the King's Fund office near Oxford Circus where today I’m taking part in a film about the Cascading Leadership programme. I have been involved in a pilot of the programme which aims to support the leadership development of CEOs of small charities in the health sector. It matches CEOs with ‘consultants’ who have experience of leadership inside and outside the sector. The programme is supported by Comic Relief. 

I was interviewed about being a consultant, along with Alex, the CEO that I was partnered with to talk about our experiences. As well as supporting Alex on her journey, the programme has enabled me to make new connections in the sector and to share learnings with the AVUK team.

10.30am Arrive in AVUK’s London centre. Time to respond to emails and input to funding application for a collaborative project to support teachers of the deaf working in the homes of families with few resources.

12noon: Working lunch with Gavin and Gillian Lockhart from Oticon and Dr Josephine Marriage from Chear and AVUK lead on outreach, LSLS Cert AVT, Noel Kenely to discuss our new collaborative project for audiology departments.

2.15pm: Time to get coffee from the brilliant Secret Gold Mine, under the arches behind AVUK’s centre – highly recommended to anyone visiting our centre (open Wed-Sat).

2.30pm: Meeting with Emma Johnson, Head of Fundraising and Communications to discuss recruitment of our new Trusts and Foundations manager position and plans for our summer/part time interns from King's College London

3pm: Time to catch up on emails and planning for our whole team day next week. 

4.30pm: Meeting with Frances Clark, Clinical Lead of our London centre, to discuss the development of our family support services; our collaboration with centres in and training of practitioners in Ireland.

6pm: Time to head home and catch up on the day’s news on my phone, notably the appointment of the new PM.

7.30pm: Arrive home. Time to watch the kids practicing their football skills with their dad in the garden and hear about their final day assembly, water fights, fun with friends after school. Oh and a glass of wine…