A video showcasing the work life balance and the potential transformative impact of the City Deal.
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00:00I grew up here, I grew up in Bunker Anna, so being able to come home and get to spend
00:14more time with family and friends was actually a big attraction. We have a really diverse
00:20range of people working within the centre at the moment, people from all different corners
00:24of the world.
00:25I can quote the Diary Girls, everyone knows everyone. And it's actually, for me, for being
00:32an immigrant, it's actually a good thing. I know the clinical staff here, I know all
00:36the nurses here. It does facilitate one-to-one interactions and that's very important for
00:40science.
00:41I think the School of Medicine has been of such strategic importance, both to the university
01:02and to the city, for such a long time. The move, certainly in medical education, which
01:07is what I do, has been to move out of those big conurbations and establish education in
01:13communities that really need it.
01:15Around about three years in, things were really, really taken off for us for elemental and
01:19we were starting to get lots and lots of contracts with NHS organisations and housing associations.
01:25At that time, there was lots of great things happening in dairy, so there was a really
01:28big attraction for me to move home and I've never looked back since. It's just been the
01:33best decision ever.
01:34I moved to Derry about 20 years ago. If we can get people interested in coming to the
01:37North West just once, they tend to want to stay. I think that's evident of all the big
01:42FDI companies that have come to the North West. Once we get people teased into visiting
01:46the North West and spending a little bit of time there, they want to stay and that was
01:49certainly my experience.
01:50We used to live in big cities, but when you have kids, young kids, it's more challenging
01:55to have them. I mean, living in Paris, very, very stressful. So the first thing I noticed
02:01coming here, by 15, 20 minutes, you can reach the kids, you can reach your house, you can
02:05reach your work, which is extremely different than what we could have in Paris or Washington.
02:09So this is a huge, huge difference.
02:23All the various leisure facilities that we've access to, and the natural environment, all
02:26those things together are just exceptional. I could be doing an open sea swim in Danone,
02:30for example, cycling back into Derry, and then going for a run around St. Colm's Park.
02:35You can not only develop your career, but really enhance your lifestyle as well. You
02:40don't have to be in what would traditionally be seen as a kind of centre.
02:46There's lots of lovely walks that you can do. There's really great areas to go for a
02:51swim. Surfing is a huge thing here. There's just, there's a lot of outdoor activity that
02:55really help you to sort of find a balance between work and life outside of work.
02:59I would go on my scooter to work in the morning, and I would put the earphones on, and I literally
03:05cross over the Peace Bridge. It's a great energiser, and I don't have to jump in the
03:09car, and, you know, I can just get to work really easy.
03:12I love going to Brook Park, especially the top bit where you can see the whole city.
03:16There's so many spots where you can go and have a good time, especially if you have a
03:20young family, it's great.
03:29Why don't you come to us?