WIRRAL - Key Persons
Andrew has been a trustee since 2012. He is a lawyer who has spent much of his career working for trade unions and their members. He became a fee paid judge in 2013 and works in two jurisdictions dealing with human rights, immigration, asylum and European law in one and social entitlement issues in the other.
Andrew has a long history of involvement in public life including 12 years from 1979 to 1991 as a Wirral councillor. Most recently he completed his second and final term on the board of Wirral Metropolitan College which is outstanding in its work with disadvantaged students.
Andrew splits his time between Wirral and Stockholm where his wife works as a teacher.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Director
- Director
Angie has worked supporting autistic people for over 25 years, both in Wirral and in Manchester.
Carole was elected to the Board in 2016. She was formerly a special educational needs teacher and also ran an evening centre for adults with moderate and severe learning difficulties. From 2010-2014 she was a governor of Bridge College in Stockport - part of The Together Trust.
Since 2012 Carole has worked with the NAS Accreditation Team and has undertaken several inspections of registered care providers around the country.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of Insight and Effectiveness at the National Deaf Children 's Society
Charlotte is Deputy Director of Insight and Effectiveness at the National Deaf Children's Society. She has a background in research, analysis and strategy development. Having spent the past nine years working in the charity sector, she is passionate about ensuring work in the sector is founded in strong evidence and insight, to ensure maximum impact is achieved.
David was elected as a trustee in October 2019. David, who has recently retired from private practice, was a partner in a national law firm advising employers and insurers on their health and safety obligations to employees, service users and members of the public. His work included advising on claims relating to pupils with special needs. He has also served as a school governor for nine years, three of them as vice-chair.
David has two nephews and a godson with autism. He looks forward to being able to support AT and to making a positive impact as a trustee.
He is driven, enthusiastic, creative and passionate about promoting the great work of the social care sector.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Vice Chair
- Chairman of Trustees With Bridge Community Wellness Gardens
Ted has been a trustee since 2013 and became Vice-chair in 2020. He has many years' experience working at senior strategic and operational levels, primarily in the social housing and education sectors. His background lies in finance and in estates and property management.
Ted is also currently Chair of Trustees with Bridge Community Wellness Gardens based in Ellesmere Port. The charity supports people with mental health and lifelong learning disabilities.
Helen has been a trustee since 2018. She comes from a public sector background in local authority; her last post being Assistant Director in Children's Services for Liverpool City Council.
Helen has a lot of experience of strategic management of services, including special needs and behaviour management services. A key role in Helen's last post was integration of services, particular around health and children's services and links between the transition from children to adult services.
Helen also worked for 10 years in Liverpool Community College, as a lecturer and curriculum manager.
Iain has been a trustee since 2016. He has over 30 years' experience in accounting and business operations from working for PLCs, limited companies and partnerships in the legal, retailing, manufacturing and marketing sectors, and has held senior positions at both board and managerial level.
Iain has a strong background in financial management, financial planning and analysis, and strategic planning. He also has a broad knowledge of IT and systems development, and strong management and administration skills. Iain has an autistic son who has been supported by Autism Together since 2008.
Job Titles:
- Quality & Support Director
Job Titles:
- Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
- Director of HR and Organisational Development
- Personnel Officer
Jim is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) with over 30 years HR and Training Experience.
Originally from west Cumbria, Jim went to University in Liverpool and stayed in the Northwest. After graduating he initially worked for Cheshire Police before joining, what was then, HM Customs & Excise for 7 years on a Civil Service Commission.
Whilst working there, both in HR and Training roles, Jim was also a trustee for a Liverpool based Charity. This was a service provider for people with learning disabilities and sparked his interest in the health and social care sector.
Jim joined the organisation as Personnel Officer in 1996 when there were less than 100 employees. During this time, he also undertook the Post. Grad. Certificate in Business Management. Currently, he is also a trustee for another smaller social care charity in North Wales and a governor for a local primary school.
John was elected to the Board in 2016. He is a retired professional engineer working for over 50 years in the international power business at director level in power station management, sales and marketing, HR and Health & Safety. John has also been responsible for business P&L and for establishing budgets from first principles and managing their delivery to target.
From 2008 to 2013, John was a non-executive Director at Wirral Primary Care Trust and was Chair of the Provider Services Board and a member of the Audit Committee. Since 2008 John has served on the Board of Involve North West, a community service charity which specialises in helping difficult to employ people back into the workplace. After 5 years as Chair of the Board he remains an active Board Member.
John Kennedy, CBE, KSG, DL, is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1961 he founded John Kennedy Civil Engineering and built it into one of the most successful construction and engineering businesses in the UK. After selling the company John focussed on creating the John Kennedy Charitable Foundation which has invested in tremendous causes throughout the UK, Africa and South America. John was awarded a CBE in 2003 to acknowledge his unique contributions to civil life and charities both home and abroad.
John sums up his philosophy as: "Those of us who are blessed with success have a duty and responsibility to assist and guide those who require encouragement and support to succeed and be self-sufficient wherever possible."
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- Finance Director
- Trustee for UK
Louise Parnell is Autism Together's Finance Director, joining the charity in March 2020.
A qualified accountant, Louise had 11 years prior experience in the charity sector, most recently as Executive Director of Business Resources at National Museums Liverpool.
Prior to that, Louise worked at Unilever for 12 years in various financial roles. Louise is also a trustee for UK-Med in Manchester, an organisation providing humanitarian medical support across the world in response to health emergencies.
It is important to Louise to feel that in her role she is making a positive difference to individuals, which is why she was attracted to Autism Together and the important work the organisation does in supporting people with autism.
Nuala has a strong organisational and administrative background in business, running her own successful property business for over 20 years.
Her late brother was autistic and was supported by Autism Together for many years. Nuala has been involved with many charitable programs over the years. She is passionate about improving and enhancing the quality of care and the continued development of support systems.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- CEO of Nazareth Care Charitable Trust
Wirral born and bred, Richard has worked within the health, social care and charity sectors for over 15 years.
Previously the CEO of Nazareth Care Charitable Trust, Richard has worked in senior leadership roles for some of the largest care providers in the UK charity sector, including Aspirations and Community Integrated Care.
A former support worker himself, Richard has worked through various levels of social care management to achieve success at CEO level, and so brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Autism Together.
Steve Brealey is currently leading the Barclays Bank Retail operating model transformation, designing the future UK retail operating model for 2025 and beyond. Previously, he was Head of Records and Programme Manager within the Chief Data Office in Barclays Execution Services. In this role, Steve was responsible for the Records Management Policy, Control Standards and Global controls capability with the purpose of mitigating a critical Global data and records management risk.
Prior to 2019, Steve had served as a Commissioned Personnel Support Officer in the Royal Air Force for 21 years. In this time, he had served across the UK and overseas in a number of leadership and management roles around HR, Infrastructure, Policy and Finance. He has also deployed operationally, completed advanced staff training and achieved a Cranfield Executive MBA and MA in Defence Studies and International Relations.
Professionally, he is keen to deliver sustainable change and exploit innovation and continue learning. Away from work, Steve lives with his wife on the Wirral in Meols with their dog Edie. In his spare time, he is a competitive runner, cyclist and enjoys all things outdoors.
Trish Chapman became a patron at Autism Together in 2018, after supporting the charity through various fundraising events for the last 5 years. Trish is a business owner with a branch depot in Bromborough, Wirral, and has business interests across the North East. Several years ago, the branch depot chose to support Autism Together as their nominated charity, and after a tour of the facilities, Trish decided to become personally involved with our charity, too.
Trish is a keen gardener, and often enjoys visits to Bromborough Pool Garden Centre, which is run by staff and service users at Autism Together.