Barbara Keene was born in Grimsby but has spent most of her life in Leicestershire and Rutland. She has always been a keen sportswoman, appearing at Junior Wimbledon and playing tennis at county level as both a junior and adult. A lifelong animal lover, horses have always featured in her life and she takes an active interest in racing and enjoys visits from her family’s various dogs who love to explore her other love- the garden that she’s created over the years.
She’s been a Conservative since her teens and has been involved in a wide variety of issues and organizations from 1984 to the present at every level from local to international. She was Chair of the European Union of Women, travelling widely in that capacity and fostering the Union’s growth and its values of safeguarding human dignity and freedom, the maintenance of Europe’s rich cultural heritage and the promotion of social and economic progress while protecting individual rights.
She has a special interest in health issues, having served as Vice-Chair of the Leicestershire Community Health Council and as Chair of LOROS. She hosted the opening of the LOROS Hospice by the then Prince of Wales and Princess Diana in 1985 and served on the Help the Hospices Grant Giving Committee. She was a member of both the Trent Regional Health Authority and Leicestershire District Health Authority where her special interests were the elderly and ethnic minorities. In line with that she chaired the Rutland Residential Homes Inspectorate Committee. In 1994 Barbara played a leading role in instigating an important review of rural health issues which was to become a best seller under the title ‘Grasping the Nettle’. Young people are another interest and Barbara has served as a School Governor for three Leicestershire primary schools while in more recent years she has been Founder Chairman of Rutland Knight School, an innovative approach to citizenship education for young children based on pride, courtesy and respect which has proved to be highly popular and successful among local families.
She has many friends in Rutland and Stamford where she much enjoyed her membership of the Conservative Ladies Luncheon Club and its meetings at the George Hotel.