Dawn, 44, will be amongst a group of women and men completing their theological training to become ministers in the Church of England. She will become Curate at Derby Cathedral.

Ordination to the diaconate means that the new clergy serve as deacons for a year before then being ordained into the priesthood.

In between leaving school and going to University where she studied English and Divinity, Dawn took a year out to do a secretarial course.  This inevitably led her into a career in administration which spanned over 15 years, working firstly for charitable organisations, then the health service and finally education.

As part of her training Dawn was able to spend a term at Yale University in Connecticut which she describes as life-changing.

Dawn is married to Paul and they are keen sports fans including a rather strange addiction to Formula 1 racing: "I started watching it with Paul just after we first met 12 years ago and became completely hooked! It's so much more than cars going round a circuit - it's like a huge soap opera really.  I've become quite an aficionado of what sort of tyre compounds work best on which circuits and I can usually out-guess the commentators on what fuel loads and strategies the different drivers are on - I think I've become a bit of an F1 Anorak!"

Dawn and other candidates for ordination to the diaconate and priesthood will begin a retreat at Bawtry Hall on Wednesday 1st July which will lead up to their ordination the following Sunday. The retreat will be led by Canon Flora Winfield, Secretary for Inter-Church and Anglican Relations at Lambeth palace.

Dawn and Paul will be moving to Derby in July.  "Paul and I are both very much looking forward to coming back to the Midlands and settling into Derby.  It will feel like coming home."

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