Today we talk to Claire Dowan, who is director of Base 33 Youth Trust in Witney

WHAT I’M CALLED: Claire Dowan.

MY AGE IN YEARS: 43.

WHAT I DO:  Director of Base 33 Youth Trust in Witney, a fantastic charity that provides intensive support to vulnerable young people aged 13 to 25 experiencing challenges because of difficult family circumstances drug/alcohol mis-use, homelessness and unemployment.
We run a variety of projects that support young people to improve their skills and qualifications, find work and get help for the issues they are experiencing.
At Base 33 we see in the region of 150 young people a week and we operate five days and four-evenings-a-week.
I started at Base 33 in 2009, having worked within the youth work agenda for some 15 years and I can honestly say that the level of commitment and support given to young people by the staff at Base 33, together with the outcomes achieved are by far the greatest I have witnessed in my career.

WHERE I LIVE:  Bourton on the Water.

WHO I LOVE: My husband and two children, our four dogs and the cat.

HAPPIEST YEAR:  There have been many. As it has to be one – I can’t use the years my children were born – it will have to be 1993.
In 1993 I graduated from university with a First Class Drama Degree and met my future husband. We both worked as actors at a visitor attraction centre called Tetley’s Brewery Wharf.
My husband played a monk and I was an Elizabethan serving wench (a quality production as you can imagine) it was lots of fun.

DARKEST MOMENT: The death of my mum.

PROUDEST BOAST: Meeting The Queen and telling her about Base 33 at last year’s Diamond Jubilee Garden Party in Henley.
I felt very privileged representing our organisation. We were selected due to being a previous recipient of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and were one of 15 organisations selected from across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire to meet The Queen.

BIGGEST REGRET: I try not to regret but instead to put things down to experience, learn from them and move on.

WORST WEAKNESS: My addiction to Mulberry Handbags (I had 15 on my last count) and my tendency to think if things go wrong it must be my fault.

LESSON LEARNED: You do not make gravy with bicarbonate of soda. When I first met my future husband I decided I would impress him by making a roast dinner with all the trimmings including homemade gravy.
For some reason I used bicarbonate of soda instead of flour – the pan became like a witches cauldron. How did I ever make that mistake? Thankfully he thought it was funny.

DULLEST JOB: Selling hot dogs and burgers in a mobile van outside a pub in Leeds. I was 17 and paid on a commission basis. For every burger I sold I received 10p. Needless to say, I didn’t earn a great deal.

GREATEST SHAME: Like regret, I try not to feel shame. Embarrassment and guilt are negative and harmful emotions not to be dwelled on.