Anne was born in Leicester on 10th September 1939 and was christened Geraldine Anne Sutton. History does not relate the reason why her first given name was not used but it may be something to do with the outbreak of WWII. She was always known as Anne and despite her father being away a long time serving in the army, she had a very happy childhood with her mother and her brother Malcolm. Malcolm was eight years her senior, so took it upon himself to watch over 'little sis'.

Anne's father was from a very musical family and after the war, in his spare time; he ran a dance band, playing in many halls in and around Leicester. Anne and Malcolm both had good voices and sang in the choir at the church of St. Philip and St. James in Groby. Anne became very involved in the church, continuing to sing in the choir and becoming a server.

One of Anne's early jobs after leaving school was to work for Fenwick's department store, demonstrating Pelham Puppets. One can imagine her putting a lot of energy into this and singing all the while; sales must have soared! From an early age, Anne found herself being drawn towards helping people in the widest sense - she became a nursery nurse, a nanny and then a social worker. Later she became a funeral arranger, looking after the bereaved and making sure the details of the funeral conformed to their wishes.

In the late seventies, Anne and her brother Malcolm started a business and Professional Friendship Circle in Leicester to promote friendship after work between people in different businesses and to raise money for good local causes. About the same time, Mrs. Joan Halsey was a social worker at the Glenfrith Hospital in Leicester, working principally on the Baldwin Ward for the seriously ill. She had taken various small groups out for boat trips on the canals and found that the patients reacted in a very positive manner to the change of environment. She suggested to her husband, Bert Halsey, that it would be great to acquire a narrow boat for this purpose.

Co-incidentally, a friend of Bert's, Fred St. Claire had a daughter who was a patient on the Baldwin Ward and he asked Bert to head up the project, as he was a design engineer at English Electric. Fund raising started in earnest but very sadly Joan Halsey died in 1980. Bert had joined the B & P Friendship Circle and in 1983, he asked Malcolm and Anne to help him with fund raising and establishing a trust to run a narrow boat in memory of Fred St. Claire's daughter, who had recently passed away. The Trust was to be called the Baldwin Trust and the boat was to be named 'St. Claire'.

Fred primed the fund in memory of his daughter with a generous donation to get things going. Five years of tireless fundraising resulted in a fine new 70ft narrow boat entering service in 1988. The sign writer working in the boat yard misspelled the name "St. Clare", but the mistake remains the same to this day as it is considered by some to be unlucky to change the name of a boat! The joint effort of trying to raise tens of thousands of pounds for building "St. Clare" brought Anne and Bert much closer together and they were married in 1984.

It was an extremely happy marriage, during which they saw the launch of 'St. Clare' and really laid the firm foundation of the Baldwin Trust on which it proudly stands today. They travelled extensively, including by Concorde, and Anne not only continued to work but was also a member of many organisations; founding the local branch of the Lionesses and becoming its president. She was a member of Rotary, W.I. U3A and many more. She found she had a talent for public speaking and gave many fascinating accounts of her travels with most talks raising money for the Baldwin Trust. Very sadly, Anne's marriage was a short one when Bert died in 1992. She immersed herself in continuing all her good works in helping others. She took over the presidency of the Baldwin Trust, which she guided from strength to strength, culminating in the addition of the second boat "Dandelion" to the fleet in 2002.

 
 The Baldwin Trust’s new Flag Ship - “Halseyon Days”