We are a small staff team because we want to work alongside our members and bring people together, rather than trying to do everything ourselves.
Meet our team:
Gary has been a self-advocate for over 30 years and is a Co-Founder of Learning Disability England. Before this, he founded People First England.
Gary has a vast amount of experience in working with the media and has appeared on Channel 4 and in the Guardian. He is a civil rights campaigner and brought the People First movement to England.
Gary is a Membership and Engagement lead with extra focus as self advocate spokesperson.
Anna is Communications Officer and Personal Assistant to Gary Bourlet. Anna has a Bachelors degree in Sociology. She lives in Kent and previously worked as a carer for elderly people with dementia. Anna is also a proud mother to two young children.
She is passionate about supporting people with learning disabilities to be able to live good lives.
Lauren is the Admin Lead and is the first point of contact for information and queries.
Lauren has worked in administration across a range of sectors for over 20 years, building lots of experience and a real passion for keeping things running smoothly. She loves connecting with people and finding ways to help.
Marianne is the Development Manager. She has supported learning disabled and autistic people as well as their families for over 30 years in lots of different roles. Marianne has 3 sons and her youngest has Down syndrome.
Marianne is a Partners in Policymaking graduate and believes anything is possible when people come together to make it happen.
Jo is a Project Officer at Learning Disability England. Jo loves working with people and exploring what’s possible in life. She really values genuine , supportive partnerships with people. She thinks that when people come together in a very honest, ‘real’ way, ideas grow, and amazing things can happen.
(When Jo gets to sneak away from family life, Jo loves to walk by the sea or learn argentine tango, lindyhop, salsa and bachata dancing. She’s also a Gig Buddy)
Jess is the Operations Manager.
Jess joins us having worked within advice services since 2007 having worked in both local Citizens Advice services and national services as well as Leeds University Union advice centre.
She is passionate about working for people living better lives.
She lives in Bristol with her husband and two daughters.
Rachael is one of the Membership and Engagement leads at Learning Disability England.
Rachael has a master’s degree in Disability Studies from the University of Leeds. She has previously worked as a Personal Assistant and with disabled children within afterschool and holiday club settings.
Rachael is a family carer and is passionate about disabled people being included, accessing their rights and living independently.
Sam is the Chief Executive. She supports the members Representative Body and Trustees to lead Learning Disability England
Sam believes everyone has a contribution to make and is always looking for opportunities to collaborate and learn from other people. On her best days she goes swimming