I work internationally in mental health. I have worked with a number of the major initiatives in the sector of the last few years. I was CEO of BasicNeeds, a pioneering organisation that helped to bring mental health to greater global attention and demonstrated that the needs could be addressed effectively and efficiently. I steered BasicNeeds into a successful merger with CBM UK and then worked with CBM on developing their global mental health initiative.. Since then I have worked with citiesRISE, Time to Change Global and with Librum. I am also chair of a UK based NGO group focused on Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability.
Before I came to the world of global mental health I ran a perinatal and infant mental health charity, OXPIP, and was one of the founders of PIP-UK. The growing band of PIPs in the UK work to provide parent-infant psychotherapy to babies and their primary carer(s). It is a critical stage in life and I learnt a huge amount through that work and have a long-standing admiration for the people who work at that stage of life. It is often highly rewarding but can also be challenging and emotionally draining work.
Previous to that I was Director of Services at Age UK Oxfordshire managing the provision of services to thousands of people across Oxfordshire, doing more contract procurement processes than I care to remember (winning most I am glad to say). I oversaw services as diverse as lunch clubs, footcare, end of life care and dementia care and carers support. Before that I was Operations Manager at East Oxford Action, a small social enterprise that worked with organisations like Mind, Restore, Refugee Resource and others to support disadvantaged people into employment and training. I also helped run the Cowley Road Carnival for a couple of years, that was an adventure!
The other portion of my career was with Oxfam, working on humanitarian relief programmes through the late nineties. I worked, initially at the HQ in Oxford but then on programmes in Liberia, Algeria, Rwanda, Dominican Republic and Kosovo.
I am also on the governance group for Time to Change Global and Chair of the Leslie Sell Charitable Trust. I have a Masters in Consulting and Leading in Organisations from the Tavistock and Portman Clinic and a degree in Psychology from Swansea University.
I am married, with two children and live in Oxford. I love music, cycling, running, reading and spending time with family and friends.
You can find me on Linkedin and Twitter.
This blog is my personal reflections and thoughts and not necessarily those of any organisation I may be associated with.
Global Mental Health 