Now we hear from Victoria's biggest fan.....her Ma.....

Thank you TeamVHB for inviting me to do a blog.

Firstly, I would like to say a BIG thank you to the followers of TeamVHB and to compliment you all on your good taste!

There are so many things I could say about our daughter Victoria but that would take too long!! 

Victoria is born under the sign of Taurus the bull and in the year of the Dog making her a compassionate, fearless, powerful and driven person and the best friend you will ever have!

Victoria did her first ballet class at the age of 3 and came home very cross because she was the only girl wearing a black leotard as all the other little girls had pretty coloured ones.You can imagine how upset I was to discover how I had disgraced her! I dashed out as soon as I could to Gandolfi in

Baker Street

and purchased the prettiest leotard and accessories I could find! Needless to say I was forgiven soon after! Victoria meant business even then!

Victoria’s real passion when she was a young girl was to work with animals and she applied to London Zoo for a voluntary position and managed to get a job two Sundays a month working in the Children’s Zoo. She used to muck-out the stables, clean the cages and the windows, change the bedding, help with the feed etc.  When her dad went to collect her from work she stank like a farmyard! She kept up the job until she was preparing for her GCSEs and was the last volunteer to leave in her group. Later whilst her dad Rick was covering London South East News at London Zoo they all knew Victoria who they called “the ballerina”.  Victoria has always had a huge menagerie of animals at home, the last count was 2 rough collies called Storm (male) and Bijou (female) cat called Christopher (male) and Annie (female) and Sapphire the hamster. They all lived in heavenly bliss together and would all go to greet Victoria when she arrived home. It was a very sad day when we had to say goodbye to them but on a happy note they all lived to a ripe old age! Victoria could no longer stand coming home without an animal to greet her so off she took herself and came back with a little Jack Russell Cross called “Toby” as a gift for us. He is a cherished member of our family.

Victoria started off at Stella Mann School in West Hampstead and then at 11 went on to the Central School of Ballet, Hatton Garden.  At 14 she received a scholarship to the Lower School of the Urdang Academy of Ballet and Performing Arts and then went on to the Upper School and secured a job before graduating and went straight out to work after graduating with the show “Oh! What a Night” a musical featuring Kid Creole and Sheila Ferguson of the Three Degrees.Victoria played the role of “Cat”. This job took us to The Sporting Club in Monte Carlo whilst we stayed at a friend’s hotel in nearby Juan Le Pain. 

Victoria is an accomplished swimmer and diver and was headhunted by an Olympic Coach to be trained up as a female swimmer to represent Great Britain in the Olympics but her father decided that this was not the route he wanted for her and a wise decision that was too, because we would not have the pleasure of watching her perform! She has been involved in many sports from ice-skating at the age of 5, and horse riding soon after, she is a natural sportswoman and is blessed with great physical strength, thanks to the genes inherited from her father. She also loves extreme sports such as bungee jumping and will be attempting her first sky dive very soon!!

Victoria is a natural comic and never ceases to have us in hysterics at family gatherings.   

She has a huge selection of cartoons which are stored in a huge chest along with her other treasures from her childhood.  I still recall her bawling her eyes out watching “Watership Down”, “Dot and the Kangaroo” and “The Fox and the Hounds” as you can see they are all animal related.

I love her ethos and her upbeat attitude to life - Vix is a forever optimist!

I am pleased that Victoria is enjoying her time out and hope that it won’t be too long before her next challenge comes along!!

Sue Hamilton-Barritt