An excerpt from Encounter magazine: October 2024
From travelling in her beloved red caravan, ‘Elmo’, to the Foo Fighters and motorsport: Linda Wilson packs a lot into her spare time.
In this Q&A, Newcastle Anglican’s Executive Director Quality, Risk and Safety discusses some highlights with the organisation and her passions away from the office.
Q. How long have you worked at Newcastle Anglican? What do you do in your role?
A. I have enjoyed the Newcastle Anglican experience for 12 years and look forward to many more years to come.
My role is to keep our people, the people we support and Newcastle Anglican safe. I work to improve our understanding of risk and what safeguards control it. By managing risks and safety well, we can improve the quality of the services we provide.
Q. Where did you work before you came here? Why did you choose Newcastle Anglican?
A. I began working for the Commonwealth Bank after university as a graduate. I managed various branches and then undertook roles in the regional offices including training, coaching, compliance and regional management. I spent 17 years with them.
With Newcastle Anglican, I first took on a part time management position which allowed me to spend time with my young children and still enjoy an active career.
Q. What are some of the highlights from your time here? What projects or initiatives are you currently working on?
A. The R3 project was a highlight. It was a lot of work with a great design and implementation team who worked to tailor the functionality to suit the various teams across the whole organisation.
The system is now described as best practice by some of our regulators. We have all played a role in its success.
Currently, I am working closely with the operational teams in Residential Aged Care and Family and Community Services. It is enlightening to get closer to the work carried out in our services. I am inspired every day by our people who give themselves so generously to support others.
Q. How do you spend your spare time outside of work? What are some of your interests/ hobbies?
A. I love to escape the day to day by spending time in other places in my red caravan named Elmo. I try to get away regularly on weekends and travel with family – my daughters Jade and Abigail and my husband Laurence – and friends when we can. I love to see live music. The bigger the rock concert, the better.
People who know me understand my deep passion for Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi. My other passion is for cars and motorsport. I follow Supercars and F1.