Local Face: Amanda Ryan

Amanda has lived in Wendover for virtually all of her life – she was born in Aylesbury and lived in Wendover throughout her childhood where she attended each of the Wendover schools.

Little did she know that at the age of 15, Amanda would meet her future husband, Matt! Despite Matt moving away to Devon, their relationship continued until Matt eventually moved back to Wendover and they married in 1997. They moved to Aylesbury for a few years when they both worked at Trusthouse Forte and in 1999 their first child Sam was born. Not long after, they returned to Wendover and Sam was soon followed by Rebecca, Charlie and Joseph.Family plays a huge part in Amanda’s life. She has happy memories of Sunday lunches with her Grandparents, who also lived in Wendover. Today this continues as her parents, Neville and Rosemary Morton, and sisters, Julia and Claire, meet regularly, giving the children a chance to spend time with their cousins.

Aside from her duties as a mother of four, Amanda juggles the busy life of family and friends and is an active member of St Mary’s Church where she also finds time to sing in the St Mary’s music group.

Amanda’s day job is as the Church Administrator of St Mary’s and she can be found in her office at the back of the newly refurbished Just on the High Street. The role of the church office is to manage the administration of St Mary’s Church here in Wendover and St Michael’s Church in Halton. In light of the variety of activities that take place in and around St Mary’s this is a significant role.Amanda Ryan is the face behind the emails and the phone calls who enables all these activities, from baptisms to burials, and from concerts to classes, to run smoothly. Her friendly and efficient approach enables the ministry and outreach of St Mary’s to function well.

Amanda is ably supported by a team of volunteers who work alongside her, but as the main lead in parish administration Amanda holds the reins.As Mark Dearnley (Vicar of St Mary’s) told us, “Having a well-run parish office is such an asset. It frees me, and the members of our ministry team, to tend to other aspects of the life of our church family. Amanda and those who assist her do an important job in our community, for which I’m very grateful.”