THE NURTURE GROUP NETWORK - Key Persons

Adele Wilkinson

Job Titles:

Adele Wilkinson / Nurtureuk Consultant

Alan Leaman joined nurtureuk in 2016 and became our chair in 2022. He has worked for many decades in public affairs and communications, and was the CEO of the industry association for management consultancies, the MCA, from 2008 until 2019. Previously, he led the communications department at the Association of British Insurers and worked as chief speech writer, political adviser and media spokesperson for Paddy Ashdown when he was leader of the Liberal Democrats. He was the party's Director of Strategy in the run-up to the 1997 general election and was awarded the OBE for political and public service. Prior to his involvement in national politics, Alan worked for a number of charities and voluntary organisations. He was a Trustee of the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales until 2014. Alan is currently chair of governors of a primary school in Kent and his two children attend local secondary schools. He is also a member of the Advisory Board at Echo Research, a firm which specialises in reputation research and consultancy.

Alison Betts

Job Titles:

Trustee

Alison joined the board in June 2016, having been a member of nurtureuk since 2006. Alison has been a qualified teacher since 1996, having started her teaching career in London and Surrey. She is currently Head of Inclusion for Exeter Children's Federation. In this role she is the strategic lead for safeguarding, children in care, attendance and inclusion across three schools in Devon. Alison joined the board of nurtureuk because of her passion for improving the education and life chances of children from deprived backgrounds. She has seen the success of nurture groups first-hand, having led a Quality Mark nurture provision for seven years. She continues to use the six principles of nurture across her Federation, to improve the inclusion of all pupils. She is a Qualified Special Educational Needs Coordinator and has recently gained her National Professional Qualification of Headteachers. Her interest in children affected by social, emotional and/or mental health issues has encouraged her to become a Specialist Leader in Education for the Exeter Consortium and Teaching School Alliance. Through this role, she has become part of a Primary Support Partnership which works to reduce permanent exclusions across Exeter Primary Schools. Alison brings a wealth of education experience to nurtureuk, and shares her first-hand knowledge of the current context for schools. She aims to keep the well-being of children at the heart of everything she does.

Annette Adkins

Job Titles:

Executive Assistant

Annette joined nurture uk in 2021, having previously worked as an Executive Assistant, providing supporting at a senior level for organisations in both the private and public sectors, including the NHS and not-for-profit organisations. In her spare time, Annette enjoys pilates, walking and travelling.

Arti Sharma - CEO

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer

Arti has always been passionate about education and the development of young people. Before becoming our CEO in 2020, she was a nurture uk trustee and the Deputy Chief Executive for youth social action charity City Year UK, where she led all external facing activities including school sales, recruitment, partnerships, public affairs, communications and development. Arti's background in marketing and communications spans several not-for-profit and commercial sectors, and she has put her passion into practice in a range of roles within the education sector, from teaching young children, to marketing to students, and mentoring graduates on their career aspirations. Arti is looking forward to working with the team to reach more beneficiaries and working with education professionals, partners, parents and members to drive nurture uk's mission forward.

Bev Selway

Job Titles:

Consultant
Trainer
Nurtureuk Consultant

Bridget Robson

Job Titles:

Executive
Head
Vice Chair

Bridget is excited by the opportunity to be Vice Chair for education for nurtureuk. She has been working with pupils with SEMH and SEND needs for 25 years, starting in a small mainstream village school. Bridget then moved into a 38-week SEMH provision, where she developed her passion for working with pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It was clear to her that the priority for these pupils was to gain a solid foundation in their early development, to ensure positive growth in their emotional and educational development and reach their full potential. Drawing on her understanding and practical knowledge of nurture groups, Bridget moved into SEMH day school provision, helping to set up a new primary school based on these principles. She became Head of the primary school in 2011, which now supports 75 children and has been rated by Ofsted as Outstanding since March 2012. In 2015 took on an SEMH secondary school, which gave her the opportunity to offer continuous nurture provision from the primary school through to secondary. Bridget is now the Executive Head of both schools, which enables her to offer nurtureuk a working knowledge of whole school nurturing provision in both the primary and secondary sectors.

Carrie Thorne

Job Titles:

Carrie Thorne / Nurtureuk Consultant
Nurtureuk Consultant

Carrie joined as a Consultant for nurtureuk in 2017. She now delivers and assesses the NNSP in conjunction with Boxall training and bespoke consultancy. Carrie's ethos is Nurture permeates all areas of life.

Chris Dean

Job Titles:

Trustee

Chris has a background in IT consulting across all major sectors, including charities. He is the UK Chief Executive of Credera, a global IT strategy and delivery consultancy firm. He is excited by the opportunity to work with nurtureuk, to help it take its message to a wider audience and help children from all backgrounds to gain the education they deserve. "Like many people, I had a difficult start in life. I was lucky and was given incredible support by my school in Liverpool and I am keen to give something back through working with nurtureuk."

Claire Hargrave

Job Titles:

Consultant
Claire Hargrave / Nurtureuk Consultant
Nurtureuk Consultant

Claire Hersey

Job Titles:

Trustee

Claire has worked in school business management and school finance for the last eight years, across primary, secondary and post-16 and in both academies and maintained schools. She previously worked in external audit for 13 years and was a senior external audit manager, with a focus on the not-for-profit sector, including social housing and higher education. Claire is currently CFO for the City of London Academies Trust (COLAT), a multi-academy trust sponsored by the City of London Corporation. She joined COLAT when it was a new MAT with three academies, and over the last four years has worked alongside the CEO and central team to establish and grow the Trust. COLAT now has ten inner-London academies (covering primary, secondary and sixth form). Claire's role is to lead the support functions across the Trust, including finance, HR, IT, premises and catering. Claire is married with two children. As a family, they love living in central London and try to make the most of everything the city offers.

Claire Wilson

Job Titles:

Quality Assurance Manager

Claire has been involved with nurture uk for many years. She had a long career as a Nurture Group Practitioner and as an Associate Trainer for the charity, before joining the team as a Consultant Trainer in 2014. As of 2023, Claire is now our Quality Assurance Manager. You may also know Claire's name from the brilliant resource she and Andrew Locke created, Establishing a Secondary Nurture Group, as well as The Importance of Snack Time in Nurturing Interventions. "I am passionate about working for nurture uk to train educators in their work with children and young people. I hope that by passing on my experience and knowledge, they feel supported and empowered to continue with such an important job."

Dr Mark Turner

Job Titles:

Life President

Mark has been helping nurture uk to establish and grow for over 15 years. In 2001 he established and ran the charity's first website, which helped to develop the network and spread materials across the UK and internationally. He ran the website for 5 years, helping to develop the community and strengthen the network. In 2001, he and Marion Bennathan co-led the first nationwide nurture uk meeting. He worked with Marion to gain nurture uk's independence from its parent charity, the Association of Workers for Children with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties. Mark, Marion Bennathan and Paul Cooper signed the foundation documents lodged with the Charity Commission. Mark was on the Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2018 (including six years as Chair), using his entrepreneurial instincts to help the organisation grow. He became nurture uk‘s Life President in 2018. Mark values the preventative, intensive and non-stigmatising intervention that nurture groups provide, and has helped to establish two nurture groups in Medway. He has a longstanding professional interest in attachment theory and early intervention, which he studied for his doctorate in educational and child psychology. Mark works as an educational psychologist, is a visiting Fellow at the University of East London, and director of Real Group (UK) Ltd.

Emily Huggett

Job Titles:

Marketing and Campaigns Manager

Emily joined the nurtureuk team in 2021 and is based in the North West of England. She moved up north in 2011 to study Fashion Design and Marketing, and went on to work in corporate marketing and business development settings. Her more recent roles have seen her support charities, social enterprises, and community groups to deliver sustainable social action programmes, through the provision of marketing, fundraising, governance support, and business development. She is passionate about seeing children reach their full potential, and creating a more equal society for all. In her spare time, she enjoys visiting family and friends, going to gigs, and spending time exploring the Peak District with her husband and golden retriever. She feels most at home by the Cornish or Dorset coast with a big portion of fish and chips!

Gill Fewins

Job Titles:

Business Development Manager

Gill joined nurtureuk in March 2016. Having previously worked in the fashion industry, she sought a more rewarding career and brought her skills to the charity sector. She previously worked for small, boutique fashion PR agencies, as well as a large-scale events production company. Part of the External Relations team, Gill leads on business development for nurtureuk. This includes fundraising, volunteering and partnerships. She is based in South East London. Gill is passionate about mental health, equality and education. She divides her spare time between her allotment and her family in Oxford and Portsmouth. Gill also loves to travel (Japan is next on the list), cook and grow her own fruit and veg.

Harry Freeman

Job Titles:

Programme Manager

Based in Greater Manchester, Harry leads on the Nurturing Kent Project which is aiming to support Kent County Council's County wide approach to embed the nurturing principles and practices across mainstream Primary and Secondary schools. Before joining nurtureuk, Harry worked as an Operations Manager at The Prince's Trust, overseeing the education provision across the whole of Greater Manchester, supporting schools to deliver a range of programmes that tackled educational inequalities and closed the aspiration gaps for young people moving on to further education, employment, or training. He's worked in the education sector for the last 9 years in both schools and within the not-for-profit sector for education charities. He's passionate about education and always places the impact and development of young people at the heart of everything he does. He is excited to be able to continue to embed this passion across the work nurtureuk have planned in years to come. Outside work, he enjoys walking, live music, and sports, in particular, football and rugby.

Helen Biro

Job Titles:

Customer Support Officer

Drawing on a background in communications and marketing within the educational sector, Helen brings a passion for strong and clear communications and customer service. Having worked freelance for nurtureuk for several years, on the Norfolk Nurture Hub and Violence Reduction Unit programmes, Helen has now moved into the team in a customer service and operational role. Helen is passionate about linking mental health, wellbeing and education, to create an environment where every child can thrive and learn. and every teacher can achieve the best for themselves and the young people in their class. Helen has a degree in Communications and French and a Postgraduate Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. In her free time, Helen enjoys family life and walking. Alongside work, Helen works voluntarily with children and young people in a forest school setting.

Jenni Moore

Job Titles:

Lead Consultant
Trainer

Jenni originally began her career in Education as a Secondary Science teacher specialising in behaviourally challenging groups. She stayed within this area for 10 years, before expanding her skillset by becoming an outdoors instructor and working with adult, children and corporate groups to promote wellbeing. Although she originally qualified in Secondary Education, her work here was largely in the primary sector since 2015, and she has held roles ranging from Class Teacher, Key Stage Coordinator, Regional Coordinator, Assistant Director of Science, Initial Teacher Training Mentor and Lead Outdoor Learning Instructor. As well as delivering a wide range of subjects, Jenni developed a specialism in wellbeing and through discussion joined as an Associate Consultant Trainer at our 2018 Summer School, delivering a workshop on curriculum engagement; this led to a 4 year involvement in both nurture and nurtureuk, eventually being appointed to the Kent project in 2022.

Jenny Perry

Job Titles:

Programme Manager

Jenny began working with nurtureuk in 2019 as a consultant trainer and soon after as the Programme Manager for the Violence Reduction Unit projects. Having spent 20 years as an English teacher and senior leader in Secondary and SEMH settings it became very clear that her passion was for working with those young people who were being left behind; the ones that many had given up on or thought too late to help. The social, emotional and mental health of young people has always been at the centre of her practice which is why nurtureuk and the violence reduction units were such a great fit. In her ‘spare' time she loves to bake, read, and veg out in front of a good box set but mainly it is all about spending time with her lovely family and ridiculous dogs.

Jo Davies

Job Titles:

Senior Digital Product Manager

Jo is nurtureuk's Senior Digital Product Manager, based in Cheshire, managing the Boxall Profile Online®. Before joining nurtureuk in 2022, Jo worked as a Marketing Manager at a leading supplier of Print Technology solutions and prior to that held roles in both Marketing and Product Management, working in many industries including Education and Manufacturing. Jo has a degree in English Literature and Applied Social Studies, a CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She is a volunteer with the Girls Out Loud Charity, involved in the Big Sister program and is passionate about empowering children and young people to reach their potential. In her free time, Jo enjoys spending time with her family and friends, loves to run & cycle and is at her happiest when by the sea.

Joe Eccleshall

Job Titles:

Customer Support Officer
Member of the Customer Support Team

Joe is a member of the customer support team focused on the Boxall Profile® Online. He has worked in and been involved with Nurture Groups from a young age and hopes to bring that experience to his role. After years of working in hospitality, Joe is excited to bring his customer service knowledge to a charitable organisation. In his spare time Joe enjoys running Tabletop Roleplaying games for his friends or newcomers at public events.

Jonathan Green

Job Titles:

Marketing Communications Officer

Jonathan is a keen marketing enthusiast, with years of experience in both digital and traditional marketing and communications. Jonathan began his career working in sales in the luxury cruise industry. Since moving into marketing, his roles have focused on such areas as content creation, copywriting, website management, social media, email marketing, paid media and blogging. He has also done voluntary work for a charity in the education sector. Jonathan attended the University of Portsmouth, where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Media Studies. Outside of work, he has a passion for travel. His other interests include photography, football, basketball and health/fitness.

Julia Woodbridge

Job Titles:

Head of Programmes

Julia is nurtureuk's Head of Programmes, based in Hampshire and is responsible for the design and management of a portfolio of major programmes as well as business development. Julia has a wealth of experience managing large, complex contracts, delivering improvement programmes, and managing busy frontline services in local government. Julia is passionate about driving performance and change. Julia has a BA hons degree and diploma in Landscape Architecture and recently achieved an ILM Level 5 in Leadership and Management. Julia started running during lockdown and completed her first 10k this summer (in the heatwave so is still recovering!) but when time allows, she loves planning holidays' and spending as much time as possible with her husband and two children.

Julie Hall

Job Titles:

Consultant
Julie Hall / Nurtureuk Consultant
Nurtureuk Consultant

Laura Codrington

Job Titles:

Programme Coordinator

Laura joined nurtureuk as Programme Coordinator for the Nurturing Kent Programme - a project commissioned by Kent County Council to deliver a 3-year county-wide programme across 300 mainstream primary and secondary schools. Laura's role involves supporting schools on their journey to implementing a nurturing approach. Based in Derbyshire, Laura's background is primarily in early years education and customer service. Working as an Early Years Practitioner for over 10 years, she experienced first-hand how identifying and supporting individual children's needs can have a substantial impact on not just their learning, but also their mental health and wellbeing. She believes that every child deserves the opportunity to learn and grow in a nurturing environment, regardless of their background, which is why she is immensely proud to be part of the nurtureuk team, helping to improve the life chances of children and young people. Outside of work, Laura is an avid Formula 1 fan. She also loves live music, particularly attending music festivals and watching musical theatre shows in the West End.

Laura Lehman

Job Titles:

Head of Marketing and Communications

Laura is nurtureuk's head of marketing and communications and is responsible for the charity's external relations. Before joining nurtureuk, Laura led communications for the charity Adoption UK. Prior to that she worked in journalism. Laura lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two young children. She is passionate about ensuring children and families have the right foundations to thrive. Outside of work, Laura spends lots of time with her lovely family - but on the rare moment she's alone she loves nothing better than curling up with a good book.