Meet the Board

Joolz is a graduate of York school of nursing with 10 years’ experience working as a LD nurse and Manager to transform and close long stay hospitals and innovate community services. Then a graduate of Hull University with a degree in person centered counselling. She has dedicated her career to working for equality of opportunity and the right to a normal life for all people.

Then worked a further 10 years transforming services , improving culture in organisational change roles in several charity’s , Mencap, In control and Guide Dogs. Separately setting up several social care and health related independent organisations, to assist the transformation of both National elements of the welfare system, its services. Then more recently with the founding of a NFP – Be human-kind , a focus on building a community of people committed to work together to transform through human change , the culture s that enable human first working, maximising outcomes, a good life for all.

Joolz has a comprehensive track-record in the delivery of social care change and brings new thinking to delivery models. She has expertise in training around collective leadership, culture change and person-centred support along with co-production approaches.

Chrissie joined the Board in 2023. She is a registered nurse and with extensive experience in senior leadership, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Having dedicated her career to the health and social care sectors, she possesses a thorough understanding of the care landscape, having worked in various board level roles for the past 16 years. She has a skill set that encompasses a wide range of competencies, including performance evaluation, good governance, legal and statutory compliance, risk management and assurance, financial and people management. A significant portion of her career has been dedicated to mental health and learning disability services, where she has served as a practitioner, middle manager and director. She has consistently advocated for people-centric approaches, because she is passionate about supporting vulnerable people to have good lives. As well as her role at Creative Support, Chrissie is a Non Executive Director in the NHS.

We are delighted to announce that Hazel Beddows has been appointed as Creative Support’s Company Secretary and she will be taking over the responsibilities of the Company Secretary from Anna. In this role she will be responsible for ensuring the organisation operates within its charitable rules and ethos, working closely with the Board of Trustees and Senior Team to ensure effective and robust governance processes. As part of this role she will also lead on the development and monitoring of the corporate Risk Register.

Paul is a fully qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been working in social housing for councils and housing associations for over 45 years. He is currently the CEO of 999 Club.

He passionately believes in the provision of socially responsible, secure and truly affordable housing for all.  Paul has an autistic son and Creative Support’s provision of supported housing for people with autism and a learning disability aligns with his personal and professional philosophy of how, as a society, we need to support and encourage independence and fulfilled lives.

Paul is a former director of housing in Gillingham, Basildon and Wrexham. He was MD at Lee Valley in Liverpool and Director of Assets for Grand Union Housing. He has also had non- executive roles at Accent Housing and was the Chairman of Greenoak Housing in Woking which specialises in developing eco-friendly homes. He is currently providing consultancy work for Redditch BC and for a small alms house group in London.

Fiona has enjoyed a successful 35-year executive career in Marketing across SMEs and corporates, within Legal and Financial Services, Charities, Education and Tech. She has a strong track record in generating profitable business by acquiring and nurturing new customers, cross selling to existing / past customers and stimulating customer referrals whilst driving down marketing costs and improving team performance.

Fiona brings strategic thinking, creativity, a planned approach and excellent communication skills to the leadership teams she is a member of. She has previously served as a Trustee for Age Concern (Sheffield), who supported older people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities, and she’s joined Creative Support to return to helping people with care and support needs.

Fiona is currently also a Trustee at EMERGE 3Rs, a charity incorporating leading social enterprise, EMERGE Recycling (Waste Recycling Services) and Touch Wood (Wood Waste Collection & Upcycling). EMERGE 3Rs also runs FareShare Greater Manchester ‘fighting hunger, tackling food waste’. She is also a member of Rotary.

Coming soon…

Helen joins Creative Support following 30 years in banking, with time at both TSB and Lloyds Bank. For the last five years of her career in the sector she worked as a Bank Manager, and has developed particular expertise in people management, building effective teams, and coaching and development. She also acted as a workplace mediator for the organisation, and is a qualified Mental Health First Aider. Alongside these roles, Helen was also a member of the award-winning employee consultation network ‘The Link’. During her time with the network, she developed a strong interest in diversity, equality and wellbeing, becoming both a member of the network’s Inclusion Committee and being appointed as the Wellbeing Ambassador for the North.

Since leaving TSB in 2020, Helen has pursued the opportunity to develop a portfolio career, combining several areas of interest in the commercial and voluntary sectors. Amongst numerous roles, she has been a magistrate in the Manchester Family Court, worked as a School Governor at a primary School in East Cheshire for over ten years, and chairs their Finance Committee. Helen also works part-time in education in the field of governance, works as a Money Advisor for Derbyshire Dales Citizen’s Advice, and is a trustee of an Almshouse Trust. Alongside these roles, Helen is also the Chair of Trustee for Stockport Car Scheme, a local community transport charity, a Membership Secretary and Wellbeing Officer for her local WI, and a member of the women’s organisation Tangent. Because of her love of theatre and the cinema, Helen also enjoys working as a volunteer at Stockport’s Plaza Theatre.

Helen has an academic background in modern languages. She enjoys reading in several languages, including: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch. She completed her Master’s degree in Translation and Interpreting Studies in 2021 at the University of Manchester, and is currently a French Studies PhD research student at the University of Birmingham. Her current field of study relates to women’s writing, postcolonialism, and literary translation.

Claire is a graduate of Newcastle University and has worked in the social housing sector for over 13 years, extensively within a not-for-profit environment providing supported housing. She currently works as a Business Development Manager for a North West based registered provider of exempt accommodation and works closely with commissioners, local authorities, developers and support providers with the aim of providing bespoke accommodation to meet the needs of those requiring supported accommodation.

She feels strongly about the importance of people being empowered to make their own choices relating to housing and support, and her experience working in the supported housing sector means she understands the impact that receiving the right support can make to a persons quality of life.

Rob was born in Jarrow in the north east of England and is a proud ‘Geordie’. He trained and practiced as a psychiatric nurse and then moved into management. Rob holds an MA in Management and is a Chartered Manager. He has held senior level posts such as Managing Director and CEO in both the public and private sectors. He is also a Justice of the Peace. Rob has significant experience in corporate governance having held nonexecutive Director roles in several public and private sector organisations. Rob is interested in co-production activity and service development as well as ensuring communities and stakeholders can influence decision making.

Steve is a Senior Operator and Management Consultant. He has held a variety of Executive and non-Executive Director roles within health and social care sector for nearly 14 years.

He started his career in hospitality before spending nearly 8 years in financial services, where he supported small to medium size businesses. He had the opportunity to advise, guide and support organisations to grow their products and services in their respective markets.

His time within health and social care has been varied from being a Managing Director of a successful care provider operating across the West Midlands, working with care technology organisations such as Cera, shaping how technology can be used in community services, as well as significant transformation programmes with local and central government to improve  MH, LD and health services around England.

Steve has a personal connection to the social care sector. He has lived experience of childhood cancer and family needing to access palliative care services with family terminal diagnoses. His eldest son has been diagnosed with autism and understands the need for good complex care and LD services for children and adults. These experiences have been his motivation to work and volunteer in this sector and he truly understands the importance of services Creative Support provides. He said: “It is our privilege to support people to live a full and happy life.”

Steve’s main strength in his career to date is understanding the importance between quality and commercial needs of care providers. He ensures good/outstanding care is delivered with financial sustainability.