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:
Bridget is a mum of 3 and works as our Office Manager 4 half days a week.
Bridget leads on our administrative and finance support and tries to organise us.
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 Personal Assistant to Gary Bourlet and is also the Project Support Coordinator.
Anna has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and has previously worked as a children’s support worker and carer for people with dementia.
Anna has a real passion for supporting self-advocates to speak up for their rights.
She has recently returned off maternity leave, and is a proud mum to a baby boy.
Lesley is the Admin Assistant. She is the first point of contact for information and queries.
Lesley has two grown up children. She is a qualified teacher and as well as working for Learning Disability England, she works as a musician and piano teacher.
Tara is the Communications Officer. She leads on anything to do with communications and social media.
Tara has a background in running social media accounts for charities and organisations. She is also a trainee counsellor.
Tara has three children with learning disabilities. She is passionate about inclusion, diversity, and supporting people with learning disabilities to tell their stories, in their words.
Rachael is one of the Membership and Engagement leads at Learning Disability England, and has a joint role with JMS Trust as a Carers engagement worker with them.
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