In 1997, Carol Dickinson was a housewife living on the Delph Hill estate in Bradford immersed in the daily routine of looking after the kids and husband. Three years later she is responsible for a multi-million pound budget. Suzy Poole chats to her.

CAROL DICKINSON has not won the lottery, but she has found her ideal job.

Carol, 36, is one of 22 directors of Royds Community Association, an organisation set up to run a £31 million programme to transform the deprived estates of Delph Hill, Buttershaw and Woodside.

She is also one of only 12 members of the association's board to be directly elected by residents - a sign not only of her grass roots knowledge of the area, but also of her ability to cut the red tape and talk sense.

"The reason why I did it was that I felt that I was the sort of person that other people would be able to ask questions through," she explains. "There's a whole lot of people that want to be involved but there's a fear of not being able to keep up with all the jargon, not being able to understand and a fear of asking questions. I've never been that sort of person. If I want to know something, I ask a question."

For someone who is responsible for 85 per cent of the Government funding that goes into Royds, Carol is refreshingly frank. She admits her CV does not resemble that of the typical director in charge of a multi-million pound budget. Previous work experience consisted of bar and hotel work, catering and full-time homemaking.

"A few years ago, my next door neighbour was on the board of directors and a couple of my friends had been involved," she says. "I had some background of the area and I just thought I'd give it a go. And here I am three years on and I'm still learning. There are new things happening all the time."

Originally from Leeds, Carol moved to Bradford just over 12 years ago and now lives in Delph Hill with her husband, Phil, 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter, none of whom were surprised when she took the job.

She works about 50 hours a month unpaid for Royds and admits there are a lot of people out there 'earning a damn sight more than me' for the same job and responsibilities. But she is driven by her thirst for knowledge, family and friends and the opportunity to meet new people.

"When something big like this is going on, it's just not affecting me. If my kids stay in the area, it's for their future," she says.

And grappling with the Euro-speak and business terms that come with the territory, she has set herself the unenviable task of un-jumbling all the jargon.

Naming it as one of her pet hates and strengths, she describes herself as a translator for the people.

"It's being able to assimilate - I hate that word - all the jargon and big words that people on the estate just don't understand. I'm constantly fighting against jargon and abbreviations. I hate it.

"I've started buzzword bingo as a joke with things like 'win win situation'. There's so many that come out and it's not just in regeneration, it's everything. If you can make fun of it, it becomes more bearable."

Carol is responsible for directing the physical regeneration of the three estates Delph Hill, Woodside and Buttershaw, from replacing fencing and sorting out parking to building new community centres. Recent achievements include developing the Delph Hill community centre, a purpose built centre in Woodside with social, health, and sports facilities and the healthy living centre at Buttershaw.

Walking into the Royds Community Association's headquarters in Wyke, the office is remarkably friendly and lively and you cannot help thinking Carol might have something to do with that.

Despite the fact that Royds is serious business, Carol says: "In the run up to Christmas, there were just so many meetings, you just get bogged down, it's like information saturation," she says. "If it's pure business, it's tedious and you switch off. If you loosen up and have a bit of a giggle, it makes it easier to cope with. It's like a spoonful of sugar. I've got them used to the way I work."

The trappings of directorship are also slow to come. A notice on her office wall tells you she has only just succumbed to the pressure and got herself a mobile phone, and she is more frightened of IT equipment than spending millions of pounds.

"I'm the original Millennium bug," she admits. "Eight months ago, I wouldn't have known how to switch a computer on. I don't have a problem with key board skills, it's the computer. That's more frightening than Royds was because you can cause so much damage."

Despite her obvious enjoyment and enthusiasm for her job, her priorities remain with her family and she says she probably would not have taken on the responsibility if her children had been younger.

She fits Royds around the kids rather than the other way round. "I spend the evenings with them just in case they need support with their homework, to be there for them. Sometimes, it's just a comfort for them to know that I'm there.

"Phil's view is that if it's what I enjoy doing, he'll support me. I'm very lucky that I've got a supportive family who accept that I want to do this."

Carol Dickinson's life may have changed beyond the pale, but she is still the housewife of three years ago, cheerfully looking after her family and friends.

"I've probably got a lot more than a lot of people but that just goes with the amount of time I spend here. I just have a capacity to learn and remember things," she says modestly.

And her ambitions for the future remain under wraps.

"You never know when things change direction," she says. "If someone had said a few years ago that I'd be doing an interview with the T&A, I'd have laughed at them. I'm just Carol from Delph Hill. I just happen to be a Royds director."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.