WIRE Board Member, Caroline Gray – Day in the Life

A day in my life

Before I get started sharing a day in my life, I want to share a little bit about who I am...

I'm Caroline Gray, Membership Secretary at WIRE and Client Relationship Manager at Dukes Limited. I've worked in the enforcement industry for almost 8 years and have served on the WIRE Board since Summer 2024.

I'm in my 30s, a mum of two boys, and I live with my Husband in Wales. A fun fact about me - I am Christmas obsessed 😊 as soon as bonfire night is over Christmas countdown is on!!! Autumn is my favourite time of year, the ‘BER’ months are just the best, Halloween, Bonfire and then Christmas, every year my décor for every season is so over the top but I love it, I am a big child at heart.

Oh, and I once won a fancy dress competition for dressing up as ‘Bill and Ben the flower pot men’!

05:30 - Wakeup for Bootcamp

This isn't an 'every day' routine, but I do do it three times a week. Bootcamp is 06:00-07:00 because, as a busy working mum of two (three if you include my husband) the only time I get for myself is before the sun rises!

I am not a morning person so the idea was great when I signed up but I still dread the thought of waking up so early, but once I've started my day with an hour workout, it sets me up for a productive day!

07:20 - Household wakes up

Showered, dressed and ‘activate mum mode’. My eldest is 13 so he gets himself up, showered, dressed and fed and off to school (win), but my youngest is 7 so he's not quite there yet. Today they were off to breakfast club at 07:45 as I was out early.

8.00 - 15.00 On the Road

Today, I've spent the day 'on the road' with one of our female enforcement agents to shadow them to see first hand their day to day role and challenges. I plan to use this experience to enhance my own knowledge and development and understand challenges within my local authority client's geographical areas.

The day started with a lengthy country side drive (typical Wales). Not surprising, we came across sheep, rabbits, a peacock and even some chickens whilst driving around. to shadow them to see first hand their day to day role and challenges. Throughout the day, we knocked many doors - some answered, some actively avoided us (which I expected). To my surprise, I found myself running from a not so friendly looking dog! Despite being an animal lover, we tried to reason with it, but I didn't want to take any chances. Over the course of the day, there were some great conversations and lots learnt!

As a board member of WIRE, I'm passionate about women working in main dominated roles, so to spend the day working alongside a female enforcement agent felt inspiring.

15.00 - Back to emails

As a Client Relationship Manager my mailbox is never empty, so after a few hours on the road, it back to business as usual - touching base with clients and making sure I’m on hand if needed.

Whilst working, my kids return home and I am greeted with letters/ accident notes and more what I like to call ‘life admin’ - something that I promise I'll "do later" as I find a place for it on the fridge!

Before closing off my working day, I catch up on any emails in the WIRE membership inbox and respond to any Board member actions as appropriate.

17.00-18.30 Activities

As soon as I shut down my workstation, it’s a quick change into something comfier! I grab the football boots, and off I go to training with my youngest. I never forget my cup of tea,  it’s my sideline essential, especially when the weather turns chilly!

Training nights are a bit calmer than match days, but I’ll admit it, I’m that mum on the sidelines: the loud one. If you know me, you’re probably not surprised! Rain or shine, I'm there! cheering, encouraging, and soaking up every muddy, magical moment.

18.45 - Home, tea and family time

By the time we get home from football, my husband (the biggest kid of them all) has usually just walked through the door, home from work. On football and rugby days, tea tends to be a bit later. Only a few nights a week do we manage a “normal” tea time.

I try to plan our meals every Sunday, which makes the weekly shop easier and helps keep things efficient when we’re home late. After tea, it’s straight into “mission clean-up” mode, everyone mucks in to get the house back to some kind of order. Then it’s time to walk the fur babies. I have two Labradors! They’re both lovely, but walking them together is a no-go. They sadly don’t walk nice as a pair, so unless I can bribe my eldest to come with me and we have one dog each, it’s two separate walks for me. It’s chaotic, but it’s my kind of chaos.

20.30 - Story and shut down

I am lucky that bedtimes in my household are not manic. My youngest is currently enjoying his David Walliams stories, passed down from his older brother, and we read a few chapters at night. Tonight, we're just finishing ‘The Ice Monster’ (great read!) After sorting the youngest, my teenager decides (after not speaking to me when he got home until now) that now is the time to talk my ear off - just when I’m ready to wind down. Secretly, I cherish these moments - whilst he still wants to spend time with me.

Once the kids are sorted, I have a final scroll on social media, shut downstairs down, let out the dogs, get into my Pj’s, complete my skincare routine (vital at my age) and chill on my bed with either my favourite tv series, that I watch on repeat or a good book.

Personally, I have to be in bed no later than 21.30 so I can be asleep by 22.30 ready for another fun filled day.

And that's it! It's a day filled to the brim, but for me, finding a routine is key! And a motto I live by is “Consistency over chaos, always."

If I could share any advice its give yourself a cut off time for your phone/social media. I put mine down an hour before bed and this really helps to slow my mind, enable me to switch off and have a good nights sleep. Try it, you won’t regret it.

Final note: I am forever saying “I am not a writer, writing is not something that comes naturally to me”, so despite that, I hope this reads well and you enjoy reading about a day in my life.