Pat always had a special place in her heart for these people and especially those with Downs Syndrome. Her mother used to volunteer at Mencap homes and Pat started going with her and found she loved it.

Pat's first job was assisting in a Day Centre for children with learning difficulties. She then tried working as a psychiatric nurse but was appalled at the way they were treated by the staff and left after a year when it was clear she would have no chance to change things. So she went back to the Day Centre work and where her caring and perspective were appreciated and over time she moved up through the ranks at various centres reaching manager. But what Pat loved most was the freedom to make a difference for these people. To act as their advocate. These were different times and there was much more scope for Pat to use her creativity and bring joy to the lives of the clients with outings of all sorts.

Based on her own experience she knew she had insights into how to help both those who struggled to be understood and those who struggled to understand them. She knew that the 'difficult person' was more than that. That the staff member who was callous did not understand the perspective of those they were caring for. With the right sort of training things could improve for both.

So Pat moved into a local authority training role for those caring for others to share what she knew about how to make a difference. She built her skills and contacts. Then when she was ready launched her own training company delivering courses up and down the country to staff in homes to help them manage aggression and violence. She was highly regarded and ran a very successful one woman business. It ended when Tony Blair brought in a new regime after various scandals in care homes. Those new schemes were a poor alternative to what Pat was doing but with its regulations swept away Pat's business unless she was prepared to swap to the new inferior orthodoxy which of course held no interest for Pat.

Pat combined her passion for sailing with her love of those with Learning Difficulties when she persuaded those involved into running sail training trips for disadvantaged young men to offer some sailing adventure to a small group of Adults with Learning difficulties. The Gemini Sailing project as it became know started 1986. It now runs 4 trips every year and is the highlight for many of those who get to go. Immersing them in a very different world of adventure. Based on the success of Gemini the Rona Trust added trips for other disability groups which has now become a key part of what they are about.