She is still here and following many years working for the city council, most recently in community regeneration, she joined the University of Sheffield in 2008 as the Faculty Director of Operations for Arts and Humanities.

Many of the faculty's departments have just moved to a number of new buildings in and around the site of the old Jessop Hospital for Women.

To celebrate, Valerie has been behind the organisation of the 'New Ground' festival which sees a series of public events during May and June. See www.new-ground.co.uk

Valerie, 45, lives in Stannington with husband Matthew Campbell and teenage daughters Maeve and Hannah.

Jeff's shed at Marsh Lane allotments, Crosspool
Jeff Walker's shed, on the best allotment site in Sheffield, is a haven of tea, biscuits, banter and sound gardening advice. Jeff's call of 'tea's up' on Sunday morning brings a motley crew of diggers together to catch up and compare crops. I've shared a plot at Marsh Lane for more than 10 years and, while the yields have been variable, the pleasure of digging and planting has never waned. The company is excellent, the sense of community is great and it's much more fun than going to a gym.

Jessop West and environs
I get great pleasure from coming into work at the University's new Jessop West building, a colourful new landmark beside the University tram stop.

The view from my office window takes in Henderson's Relish, home of my favourite flavour of the city, as well as the rooftops and countryside beyond.

Just next door is the Music Department in the beautifully restored Jessop Victorian building. Music also enjoys the new facilities in the very modern Soundhouse on Gell Street. Arts and Humanities at the University are now clustered around this area between West Street and Broad Lane, so the Jessop West coffee shop is now the spot for some of the best chat in the city.

Graves Gallery
Right up at the top of the Central Library building on Surrey Street, this elegant 1930s building is the home of the city's art collection as well as the site of regular temporary exhibitions. I'm surprised that it is often so quiet, given its decent café and proximity to the bustle of the city centre.

District shopping centres
I'm not great at supermarket shopping and prefer getting fresh food from smaller shops. Hillsborough has a range of good butchers and the wonderful Mann's fish shop. Crookes and Broomhill are also on my shopping itinerary. I particularly like the Saturday morning Women's Institute market at the Scout Hut on Spooner Road, Broomhill.

Royal Concertinas Dungworth
For the last few years I have been trying to play Irish traditional music on the Anglo Concertina. My husband and daughters are already accomplished musicians and have had to suffer a great deal listening to me practise. I've recently discovered that a fine hostelry, the Royal Hotel in Dungworth, is a regular venue for scholars of these fascinating musical machines. Live music and fine beer is my idea of a good night out.

Jumble sales
My ideal Sheffield Saturday afternoon includes a good jumble sale rummage, depending on whether a promising event has been advertised in the Sheffield Telegraph. I love the excitement of not knowing what, if anything, I will find. I'm a book-lover and jumbling feeds the habit, while not costing the earth.

My house has been decorated with some interesting finds and some of my 'fashion' items have also come from jumble trestle tables. This doesn't always impress my teenage daughters but I think they've just about given up hope of me buying anything new.

Trees
I have real pleasure in watching the city's woodlands change through the year. There are around two million trees in Sheffield, in woods, parks, verges and gardens, making Sheffield a place that has more trees per person than any other European city.

This is good news for the environment as our trees absorb carbon dioxide emissions. It's good news, too, for how great the city looks with green space and foliage softening the hardness of our urban space.

Park Hill Flats
I know that these listed late 1950s streets in the sky divide opinion but I'm firmly in the camp of those who think they are a great addition to the Sheffield landscape.

For me one of the marks of a great building is that it gets people talking. I'm really hoping that, even in these uncertain times, the proposed regeneration proposals can be seen through. Let's get those lights twinkling behind the station once again.

The people who live in Sheffield
Probably my favourite thing of all about the city is the warmth, humour and generosity of the vast majority of its people. Sheffield has given outsiders like me, who have had a choice of places to go, a warm welcome. But the fact that Sheffield has also provided a sanctuary for refugees in search of safety is something about which all its residents should be justifiably proud. And we all benefit from living in a diverse and multi-cultural city.

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