Say hello to Pat Martin! Pat & her husband Brian have lived in Castle Gardens since 1990. They really love their community of friendly neighbours being close to the city centre without being in the bustle that would entail. Pat was born in Bath but then her family began to travel around the world a bit for her Father’s work as a Chartered Engineer with the Ministry of Defence(MOD). She & her family have lived in Washington DC, Glasgow, Malta &Plymouth before eventually returning to Bath. Pat studied Chemistry at Southampton University and decided to take up a career in Information Technology as a Programmer; a woman ahead of her time. Once ensconced she found herself sitting next to Brian and, over time, the relationship grew & they married. Indeed there were few women in the field at the time. It was still the dark ages for the rights women take for granted today. At that time only 1 in 8 working in IT were women, predominantly in the lower grades. Sometimes she was the only woman on the project. When she joined the MOD things began to change gradually. Keen to both improve the representation of women at higher levels and to ensure the best talent for the job, the MOD replaced a short interview with an intensive 2 day residential assessment where Pat was among the increased number of successful women. In childhood Pat contracted Brucellosis, a bacterial disease which causes recurrent severe flu-like symptoms. For Pat this meant a curtailment of normal activities and resulted, as one might expect, in boredom Her Mother encouraged her to take up simple embroidery to stave off boredom. Pat soon learned she had a talent for it leading to a lifelong passion for needlecraft. She expanded her interests to include quilting & dressmaking. The dressmaking came into its own when her family was stationed in Malta which, at that time, had a shortage of summer dresses to suit a young woman who was taller than the average Maltese. These skills also came in handy while she was at University. Embroidery has always helped her to stay calm during difficult periods providing an antidote to a stressful job with endless targets. In retirement Pat began look after her Mother as a carer until Mum required a more professional level service where again embroidery helped. She then volunteered as General and Membership Secretary with the Bath Centre National Trust which supported the work of the national organisation by conducting activities which funded projects. Sadly it no longer exists. She also became involved with the University of the Third Age (U3A) eventually leading the Creative Embroidery Group which she still does today. Pat has also belonged to the Bath Quilters where, for their 21st anniversary, they set themselves the challenge of creating a quilt based on a single strip of random fabric. The resulting pieces travelled around the country as an exhibition. She is also a member of Bath Guild of Embroiderers. Such is the quality of Pat’s U3A group’s work that it has been featured in a couple of issues of the Stitch Magazine. Recently Pat has been volunteering at Bath Library helping people to use the IT equipment provided on a variety of tasks eg to search for information, deal with emails and carry out printing and photocopying. Even today not everyone is confident with the technology and many people do not have a printer at home. It is good to know that Pat & her Library colleagues are there to assist. Pat recommends getting involved & volunteering. Doing so has given her a second life and has populated her friendship circle with like-minded people. So, if you are walking down the road one day & bump into Pat, please say “Hello” to One Amazing Neighbour!