Biographies
Martin spent 37 years in the Civil Service working in employment, education and training before retiring in 2005 from the post of National Governance Manager for Further Education. He has worked voluntarily for Civil Service charities throughout his career. He continues to do so and was awarded the MBE for this work in 1998. Martin joined the Committee in 2007 and was elected Chair in May 2008.
Anna has 27 years of experience of working in health and social care, including 10 years NHS experience in mental health nursing and project management. She has been the Chief Executive of Creative Support for 18 years, since the formation of the agency in 1990. Anna has significant experience of business development, financial management, training and operational management.
Kashif joined the Board in December 2007. He lives in Oldham and works as a Barrister in Manchester with a practice including mental health law and employment law. He has extensive interests in current affairs and politics, mental health care, social and economic policy, discrimination and disadvantaged groups, human rights issues, and international relations.
Pauline joined the Committee in mid 2006. She is a qualified Mental Health Social Worker with a strong background in commissioning, developing and managing mental health services. Pauline retired from local authority service in 2006, which is also when she became Non Executive Director for Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust and she works as a freelance consultant.
Jane joined the Committee in March 2009. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development with experience at senior level in HR and General Management in both the public and private sectors. She currently works as an HR Consultant.
Pete is Head of Employee Relations at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has extensive strategic and operational HR experience having worked in both the public and the private sector.
Roy has been a Creative Support service user since 2002 and joined the Board in January 2011. His working life has been spent in Local Government, the CWS, BP, Shell, BNOC and BT. His background is in marketing, planning and supply. He is a member of the Citizens as Trainers group based at Salford University who work with students and professionals in the faculties of Health and Social Care at Manchester, Salford and Manchester Metropolitan Universities to improve caring services for the future. He is a member of the Social Work Programme Committee at Salford and Manchester Universities.
Geoff joined the Committee in January 2011 and in that same month retired from Manchester City Council after 41 years employment in numerous posts and departments. He has been Head of Payroll but latterly was employed as an Operations Manager in the Council’s Finance Shared Services Centre, having responsibilities for the billing and collection of miscellaneous debt and income management utilising modern business systems and processes.He has also been a magistrate since 1991 and is an active member of Sale and District Lions Club, a fundraising charity organisation.
Elaine re-joined the Board in June 2011. She is a member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching, a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Auditors and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. She is currently a self-employed Training Consultant, in addition to serving as a Trustee for Bedfordshire and Luton Mind and as a Finance Committee Member for the charity Interserve.
Darrell is a qualified Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) and provides operational support to Manchester City Council’s Emergency Duty Services. He is a Practice Teacher with considerable experience of training and development, and is currently Policy & Performance Officer at MCC, where he leads on equality and diversity in Adult Social Care Services. He also works with Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust, advising on user/carer involvement and engagement.
Pravin is a consultant business planner and financial modeller. He has extensive experience in product, portfolio and cost centre finance management including the development of strategies and business investment cases. He worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry for over 20 years where he was involved in development of psychiatric medicine business cases. He has supported two charities over the years with innovative fund raising.
Andrew has a strong background in social housing with over 20 year’s experience of working in the public sector. Andrew started his career managing supported housing schemes for Manchester City Council (MCC) where he went on to work in the Policy and Service Development Team to develop housing policy interventions. In 2004 Andrew joined the Housing Corporation and completed a brief spell as a Lead Regulator working with registered social landlords before moving into a housing development role managing investment programmes for affordable housing. Andrew currently works for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as an Investment and Regeneration Manager working in partnerships to develop new housing and regeneration schemes.
Grenville has extensive senior management and board level experience across the Public Sector – Local Government, Health Service and Central Government and is a Chartered Public Finance Accountant. He has a track record in improving overall governance and financial control and in developing management information to support strategic decision-making. Grenville has a particular interest in organisational development and building employee capability. He is Deputy Director at the Department for Work and Pensions and also a non-executive of the Law Society’s Audit Committee.
After RAF military service John took up scholarships at the University of Hull (BA Hons) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc Econ) and since then has had considerable professional experience of employment policies, industrial relations and human resources, local government, as Head of the Employment Section of the TUC and trade union work at national and international levels. More recently he has had further high level representative and academic experience as the UK member of the European Training Board (CEDEFOP) and as visiting Professor for European Social Agenda studies at Toulouse Business School. He has also undertaken education and training consultancy roles on management and evaluation projects in East and Southern Africa. This period has included a sabbatical semester at Queens University in Belfast for advanced studies in international relations and global politics. John has direct experience of the social care sector through a family member with learning disabilities and mental health problems. Retired now from regular employment, but not from life, he remains a committed volunteer and active citizen. He joined the Committee in March 2009.
Mike is a Chartered Public Finance Accountant. His career in local government spanned 43 years. He retired as Director of Financial Services at Worcestershire County Council in 2010. He has been President of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and also President of the Society of County Treasurers. Mike is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and a school governor.
Julie has 14 years of experience in the health and social care field, in mental health and older people’s services. She has experience of NVQ assessing and practice teaching and has also completed the Practice Teacher’s Award. Julie has a strong professional interest in Human Resources management, legal aspects, data protection and protection of vulnerable adults. Julie is responsible for our various quality initiatives including the internal audit programme, Supporting People QAF and Investors in People.
Debbie has 20 years of experience working in social care including the statutory and voluntary sectors. She has considerable experience of managing both mental health and learning disability services. As Creative Support’s lead manager for learning disability services she has championed the introduction of the Learning Disability Awards Framework and person centred planning. During her career with Creative Support Debbie has developed a wide range of new services including highly respected services for people with challenging behaviours.
Charlie is a qualified social worker (BA Hons) and also a qualified NVQ Assessor. He has worked in health and social care since 1990 and has extensive experience of managing services for people with learning disabilities, older people and people with mental health needs. Charlie joined Creative Support in February 2010, taking the national lead on Personalisation, as well as overseeing our services in the North East and Leeds and some services in Greater Manchester.
Chris has 14 years of experience working in the social care field with people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders and is a lead CITRUS trainer. He has worked for Creative Support since 2002 and has significant experience of developing new services including services for people with autistic spectrum disorders. He also has experience of managing large scale transfers of staff under TUPE regulations. Chris is the lead manager for our services in the West Midlands, Stoke Domiciliary and Learning Disability Services and South Manchester.
Emma qualified as a Social Worker in 2000 and has since worked in a range of services, including substance misuse, bereavement, mental health and learning disabilities. She has worked for Creative Support for over 8 years in a variety of roles. Before taking on the role of Service Director, Emma was the Area Manager for our Salford, Stockport and Manchester Services and a lead manager in the promotion and implementation of the Recovery Model. Emma is a qualified Practice Teacher and holds the Registered Managers Award; she has a keen interest in social work practice and development and is currently undertaking her MSc in Applied Mental Health Practice. Emma looks forward to using this experience to develop staff practice in areas such as Capacity and Service User Involvement. She is lead manager for our services in Bedford and Harrow, the East Midlands, Stoke Mental Health and Stockport.
Colette is a qualified mental health nurse with more than 12 years experience of health and social care. She has significant experience of service development including large capital projects. She has been responsible for developing high quality new services for people with mental health needs and a dual diagnosis and is the lead manager for our services in Lancashire and the North East, where she has developed a wide range of mental health and learning disability services.
Sam has 19 years of experience working in Community Development and Social care including work both in the UK and internationally. She has considerable management experience in organisations that focus on complex needs (specialising in low threshold and harm reduction services), homelessness, mental health, equality and gender work and services for ex offenders. Sam has worked in residential services, prisons and also in community settings. Before joining Creative Support in June 2011, Sam had been a senior manager for 5 years, involved in strategic planning, governance issues and quality. In her role at Creative Support, Sam will be focusing on a number of the head office functions, initially strategic and business planning, as well as line managing the Housing Team and working on quality in partnership with Donna Francis.Shortlink:
