About me…

I have spent my working life as a passionate advocate for small-scale relational community-led solutions that helped other local people. As CEO of the representative body for family-based support Shared Lives Plus, lobbied successfully for a regulatory approach which placed the burden of regulation on an agency rather than the families.

After founding Community Catalysts in September 2009, as CEO I continued the struggle for a policy, legislative, regulatory and bureaucratic environment that enables people to use their gifts, talents and imagination to create enterprising services and ventures that help other people in their neighbourhood. I retired from my role as CEO of Community Catalysts at the end of July 2023.

I have has continued into retirement to fight for personalised community-based support and services for people who need that help to live their lives. I am the Chair of the Coalition for Personalised Care, a movement of health professionals and people drawing on health services. I have recently, with my friend and colleague Angela Catley launched the movement When I Get Old, which aims to bring the direct voice of older people to bear on social care and health policy and provision.

I was awarded an OBE for services to social care in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and of the Salzburg Global Forum.