A FANTASTIC JOURNEY OF LEARNING, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISCOVERY SARAH BRUMBY

A FANTASTIC JOURNEY OF LEARNING, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISCOVERY

BY SARAH BRUMBY (01-03)

After leaving RGS Sixth Form I went on to study Fashion Design and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University. The Art department still holds a special place in my heart, where I spent Saturday mornings developing life drawing skills, developing photos in the dark room, spending many hours painting and sculpting alongside my peers.

Ihave always been at my happiest when I am being creative and making things, I spend more time restoring a period house than painting still life these days, but I always have a craft project on the go.

The skills that I developed in my teenage years enabled me to produce a diverse portfolio which enabled me to get on to a university course with a year in industry, which set me up for a career in the clothing industry after graduating.

For 15 years I have worked as a clothing designer in busy design studios for high street retailers, small startup brands and manufacturers worldwide. Travelling and working with colleagues all over the world has been a fantastic journey of learning, personal development and discovery.

During my time in Sixth Form, I volunteered with a team of peers at a primary school, which I found very rewarding. Aged 21, after finishing university, I travelled to India where I spent time volunteering teaching arts and crafts at various children’s NGOs in India. These experiences volunteering led on to being a Girl Guiding leader and mentor for over ten years. Being part of and running volunteer leadership teams in the East End of London has challenged me in new ways, taught me invaluable life skills and been thoroughly rewarding.

I feel fortunate to have made what I didn’t know at the time would end up being some of my lifelong friends while at RGS. I moved to East London in 2010 where my school friends found me somewhere to live and welcomed me into their social lives. Many of these friends attended my wedding; of whom Helen and Harriet were my bridesmaids in 2019. They have all been a fantastic support to me, my husband and our two children for many years. 2021 has been the start of a new project as Director of my own retail business. I hope to take the skills that I have developed so far in my life and career, applying them in a different direction. Skills in product design, retailing, CAD, sourcing & self-employment have given me the confidence to embark on this new chapter of my creativity.

Since having children, I have become increasingly aware of the impact we all have on the world around us. By launching a brand supplying sustainably packaged groceries, I hope to make a positive difference by helping people to create less waste. I hope to inspire the next generation to follow their own exciting new paths ahead of them, however unconventional they might be.