Staff Spotlight: Laura Byrnes

Our next staff spotlight episode focuses on Bid Writer, Laura Byrnes.

Laura was born in Limerick in the west of Ireland but moved to Reading, England when she was 10 years old. Laura has always had a passion for reading and writing, so much so that she was offered to publish a story she wrote when she was just 14. Fast-forward to today and Laura owns over 500 books!

Laura now lives in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, with her partner but frequently visits Reading when she works on-site at Roffey Park. Living in Gloucestershire, a county historically renowned for its Rugby, it is no surprise that Laura is a keen player and spectator herself. In fact, Laura is currently in the process of trying to set up a women’s Rugby club in her own village.

Laura is also an avid Star Wars fan. In fact, Laura mentioned that her greatest achievement to this date was being ranked number 1 in the UK for Star Wars trivia on a quiz app, called QuizUp, for a month straight when she was 14. Laura joked with us, ‘when all else fails and my confidence dips, I always like to fall back on this fact!’

Laura attended Durham University and graduated recently with a BA in Literature (British and Commonwealth). She specialised in medievalism which included Old Norse, Old English and Germanic Myth and Legend. Laura explained how she wrote her dissertation on the infamous Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien but also excelled in post-colonial and psychoanalysis studies.

During her time at Durham University, Laura became an executive chair for the University’s Period Positive charity group. As executive chair, Laura was responsible for events and communication and worked to destigmatise menstruation, improve knowledge and offer support for period poverty. In addition, Laura was Grey Colleges representative for the 93% of Club Durham which sought to improve state students’ experience at university.

If Laura’s university journey was not admirable enough, she was a player and social secretary for Grey College’s Women’s Rugby team. It is no wonder then that Laura went on to receive commendation for her work at university.

Laura’s professional career really began when she became a freelance writer for TheUrbanWriters as well as voluntarily writing and editing for her local Newspaper in Reading, The Southcote Echo, which she still does today.

Laura joined the Roffey Park team in August as Bid Writer within the commercial team, where she can use her experience and writing talent to great effect. When asked how she found herself in this role, Laura told us… ‘Honestly, I could not tell you! I feel very honoured that Roffey Park Institute saw potential in me’.

Throughout Laura’s time at university, as well as her own personal projects, she has shown passion and drive in everything that she applied herself to, with experience in writing and meeting deadlines. Laura explained that she is always true to herself which has made her an incredibly resilient person today. It is brilliant to have added Laura to the Roffey Park team and we are certain that her skillset and vibrant personality will add great value to the organisation.

Categorised in: Company News