03/05/2026
A personal message from Lauren D'Silva:
Thank you for the many and interesting conversations I’ve had on the doorstep over this by-election campaign. I am a familiar figure in our town, many of you know me already, but some have been interested to learn more about me and how my past experience will help me serve as your County Councillor.
I’m almost 60 now and my relevant experience is too long to fit neatly on an election leaflet – we’ve been focusing on what the Liberal Democrats have achieved and what we are planning in the near future, but for those who are interested here is a potted bio which I hope will demonstrate some of the transferrable skills I can bring to this role:
I started my career as a secondary school English and Drama teacher and taught in state schools in Leicestershire and Leicester City for 12 years. I was asked to deliver my school’s Health Education curriculum which led to my appointment as the Project Co-ordinator for the National Healthy Schools programme in Leicestershire, delivering a wide range of health initiatives for staff and pupils and providing teacher training across the county. I worked across departments in Leicestershire’s County Hall to deliver the best possible programme to the schools. Themes I trained around included emotional health and well-being, physical activity, healthy eating, citizenship, s*x and relationships education and drug education.
Alongside my teaching and teacher training work I was an active trade union rep for Leicestershire’s NASUWT. I attended and spoke at our national conferences, with my focus on staff well-being. I am proud to be a Past President of the Leicestershire branch.
I have served as a school governor twice – once as Teacher Governor at a Leicestershire secondary school and later as a Parent Governor at my daughter’s primary school in the City of Leicester.
When I moved to Llandrindod over 20 years ago I became a freelance Health Education Consultant and worked with the National Healthy Schools Programme across several Education Authorities in England in an advisory capacity and I attended regular meetings in London with the National team.
I became an Associate Trainer for the Eating Disorders Association (now Beat). Over the years I trained health professionals, social workers, youth workers, housing associations and teachers across Wales, Bristol and the North West to raise awareness of the signs of Eating Disorders, to better understand these illnesses and to know how to approach those individuals they were concerned about.
Alongside my freelance work I was building my holistic therapy business and I continue helping my clients to this day. With the wonders of Zoom I now work internationally and I enjoy regular feedback from those I help reporting positive shifts in areas of their lives where they have felt stuck for a long time, sometimes for decades.
I was the Chair of ACHO for 6 years. This is the national organisation which sets the recognised training standards for Crystal Therapy in the UK. For over twenty years I provided professional training for therapists here in Llandrindod and my students travelled from all over the UK, as well as from Europe and from as far away as the USA, Kenya and Brazil to learn from me. My students stayed locally, boosting the income of our local hotels and guest houses. I also ran a national conference, booking out all of the conference spaces for a whole weekend at the Metropole and bringing experts together from around the UK. The conference provided continuing professional development for around 100 therapists.
Much of my therapy work involves careful listening to my clients, helping them to reframe their situation and finding potential ways for them to move forward – if that’s not a skill relevant to being a County Councillor I don’t know what is.
In short, I have lived a life of service. I genuinely care about the well-being of our young people, of our elderly residents and about everyone in between. I believe I have the experience and the skills I need to do the role of your County Councillor and to do it well! If you agree I would be honoured to receive your vote on Thursday 7th May.
Photo of Lauren at Happy Valley - it's bluebell time, don't miss the beauty on our doorstep!
