Our team

PSC / About Us / Our team

The PSC Team brings a wealth of personal and professional experience of children and young people (including Looked After Children) with additional needs.

This video gives an insight into the background and workings of the charity.

For your peace of mind, all PSC staff and volunteers carry a PSC ID card, with the respective photograph from this page.

Managers

Ruth Pearse

Founder and Chief Executive

Ruth was a primary teacher in a school with a specialist unit for children with physical disabilities.
Tess Eagles

Business Development and Partnerships Manager

Tess has over 25 years experience in business, finance and project management including over 15 years in the charitable sector. In her spare time she is Chair of a local charity. Tess has personal experience of the issues faced by PSC families and is passionate about inclusion and creating positive change. Tess has key strengths in corporate partnerships, fundraising, strategic planning, development and growth.
Zobia Kalim

Director of Family Services, Funding and Commissioning Manager

Zobia is a Specialist Parenting Practitioner with wide-ranging training and experience of developing & delivering programmes for families of special needs children, including those with early life trauma, across the UK since 2003. She is also an accredited trainer, a Mental Health First Aider, a Sleep Practitioner as well as a mother of two special needs children, one of whom is adopted.
Jennie Kettell

Sleep Service Manager and Sleep Practitioner

Jennie is our former Helpline Manager and now coordinates all of our sleep workshops, courses, clinics and online presentations. She is a trained Sleep Practitioner with a particular interest in sensory needs and how they impact sleep. She also supports Administration with enquiries, events and reporting. Jennie has a degree in Psychology with a focus on child development, has been on the governing board of a local special needs school for 5 years and has 2 children with additional needs.
Jo Lavelle

Finance Manager

Jo is a qualified chartered accountant, specialising in corporate tax, and has previously volunteered as our Treasurer.
Polly Lewis

Administration Manager and Volunteer Co-ordinator

Polly is a former Information Officer with the Civil Service, working in Knowledge Management and Freedom of Information/Data Protection. She is involved with The RAFT Club, a play club and support group for autistic children and their families in Reading. Polly has 2 children with additional needs.
Ness Nichols

Social Interaction and Auticulate Groups Lead

Ness has a wide range of experience working in counselling, training and facilitating small groups with children and parents. She has worked with many neurodiverse learners and has a huge passion to see children's lives changed by developing their thinking strategies to interact with friends and build positive relationships. Ness co-founded Breakthrough Learning, is a qualified Feuerstein Mediator and has training in Makaton and Elklan Speech and Language Support. She has 2 children one of whom has Down Syndrome.
Charlie Taylor

Helpline and Support Groups Manager

Charlie provides information for anyone needing help regarding special needs via the phone and email. She co-ordinates our Support Groups and supports our practitioners at Autism and ADHD workshops.

Parenting Practitioners

Jo Billington

Parenting Practitioner and Neurodiversity Advisor

As well as working for PSC, Jo is a doctoral researcher in the Centre for Autism at the University of Reading researching the lived experience of autistic school children. She is a Mental Health Trainer for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, and Affiliate Lecturer in Child Development, SEN and Inclusion at Oxford Brookes University.
Peter Burton

Parenting Practitioner, Trainer and Volunteer Peer Supporter

Peter is a qualified teacher, counsellor, trained mediator and NLP practitioner. He has also been a foster carer and supports families at the charity as a volunteer peer supporter. He is involved in delivering workshops within the Trauma & Attachment Service and facilitates the ‘Dads & Male Carers Support Group’.
Louise Butler

Parenting Practitioner

Louise is currently home-educating her son.
Helen Cattermole

Sleep Practitioner

Helen is a registered nurse in learning disabilities (RNLD), and worked within Berkshire Foundation Healthcare Trust as a challenging behaviour specialist, working with adults with learning disabilities and their families and carers.
Denise Challis

Parenting Practitioner

Denise works with children and families, many of whom have experienced life with special needs, within an educational setting. Her particular interests are ADHD and mental health, and she is an accredited mindfulness teacher.
Dr Blandine French

Neurodiversity Advisor

Blandine completed her PhD in Applied Psychology investigating the awareness and understanding of ADHD in primary care, specifically how well GPs understand ADHD and its care pathway. She developed and evaluated an online educational tool, coproduced with GPs to increase their awareness of ADHD. As well as having ADHD herself, Blandine facilitates support groups for parents of children with neurodiversities and adults with ADHD.
Donna Levy

Child and Family Support Worker - Auticulate & Social Interaction Groups

Donna is from the Berkshire area and has lived there most of her life. She studied Modelmaking at University of the Creative Arts in Kent before returning to Berkshire. She has many years experience working with children with additional needs. She is a qualified lifeguard and also works as Playwork Supervisor and Short Breaks Co-ordinator at Camp Mohawk.
Melody Lusted

Child and Family Support Worker - Auticulate & Social Interaction Groups

Melody assists children with their social skills lessons through a variety of games and teaching on a one to one and group basis. She works with families and other agency’s to develop the delivery of a shared support plan, and maintain an effective partnership, working with children and parents with a commitment to promoting the wellbeing of children.
Rhiannon McCobb

Parenting Practitioner

Rhiannon has 10 years experience supporting families facing a wide range of challenges in Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Whilst at Home-Start Southern Oxfordshire she supported many families with young children and ran family groups as well as co-ordinating the home visiting volunteer service. Rhiannon has also worked in the Short Breaks team at Brighter Futures for Children, Reading.
Dr Ruth Moyse

Parenting Practitioner and Neurodiversity Advisor

Ruth completed her PhD in autistic girls absent from mainstream secondary schools. She is a Visiting Fellow with ACoRNS at the University of Southampton, a Research Assistant on the Autistic School Staff Project at the University of East London, and a Mentor for Scottish Autism's Affinity project. Ruth facilitates the Autistic Girls Monthly Workshops and our social group for Autistic Girls: The A Team.
Amy Plumer

Parenting Practitioner

Amy works as a paediatric occupational therapist and project worker for the National Autistic Society. She facilitates the Autistic Girls Monthly Workshops and our social group for Autistic Girls: The A Team.
Tanya Spiers

Parenting Practitioner

Tanya has worked in a variety of special education roles supporting both young people directly, and their families. She is a qualified trainer and early years educator with a wide range of SEND experience. She works part-time as a Family Support Worker for parents of children aged 0-5 with SEND, and prior to this designed and delivered autism training workshops to parents and professionals. Tanya has three sons, two of whom have special needs.
Helen Tracey

Sleep Practitioner

Helen also works part time as a Social Worker in a Short Breaks Service for disabled children.
Mary Van Der Merwe

Parenting and Sleep Practitioner

Mary facilitates the Autistic Girls Monthly Workshops and our social group for Autistic Girls: The A Team, as well as delivering autism-focused courses and workshops. She also supports the TAS and Parenting teams with administration.

Staff and Volunteers

Carolanne Beecher

Helpline Support

Carolanne works on our Helpline and volunteers additional hours for calls, emails and admin. On the personal front, Carolanne is an adoptive mum of a daughter with special needs.
Anna Cook

Children & Young People Services Volunteer

Anna is a BSc Psychology student at The University of Reading with personal experience of additional needs in family life.
Louise Lambourne

Administration Volunteer

Louise supports our Helpline, Sleep Service and Community Support Groups.
Karen O'Leary

Administration Volunteer

Karen is a Nurse and mum to two boys. She is volunteering with PSC by supporting our Helpline and Sleep Service.
Sue Moore

Administration Volunteer

Sue supports us by processing our event bookings.
Toshiko Tani

ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT

Toshiko supports our Administration Manager by processing registration, events, attendance and outcome data.

Trauma and Attachment Service

Zobia Kalim

Director of Family Services, Funding and Commissioning Manager

Zobia is a Specialist Parenting Practitioner with wide-ranging training and experience of developing & delivering programmes for families of special needs children, including those with early life trauma, across the UK since 2003. She is also an accredited trainer, a Mental Health First Aider, a Sleep Practitioner as well as a mother of two special needs children, one of whom is adopted.
Peter Burton

Parenting Practitioner, Trainer and Volunteer Peer Supporter

Peter is a qualified teacher, counsellor, trained mediator and NLP practitioner. He has also been a foster carer and supports families at the charity as a volunteer peer supporter. He is involved in delivering workshops within the Trauma & Attachment Service and facilitates the ‘Dads & Male Carers Support Group’.
Lynne Blencowe

Parenting Practitioner, Trainer and Volunteer Peer Supporter

Lynne is a qualified trainer with over 10 years’ experience of delivering training to foster carers. She has been a foster carer herself for more than 35 years, and is currently a long-term foster carer for three children, two of whom have additional disabilities. She delivers workshops and courses for the charity as well as helping at events and facilitating a support group for adopters and foster carers in Maidenhead.
Jo Gordon

Volunteer Peer Supporter

Jo is a volunteer with the Trauma & Attachment Service and supports parents as well as events. She has years of professional experience supporting children aged birth to six with SEND and their families. She is also the mother of two children, one of whom is adopted.
Mary Van Der Merwe

Parenting and Sleep Practitioner

Mary facilitates the Autistic Girls Monthly Workshops and our social group for Autistic Girls: The A Team, as well as delivering autism-focused courses and workshops. She also supports the TAS and Parenting teams with administration.
Eleanor Greaves

Parenting Practitioner and Education Advocate

Eleanor is an experienced teacher and qualified Teacher of the Deaf. She has worked in special education for many years, working with a wide range of children with complex needs. Eleanor has an MA in Psychology. She is the mother of three children, including her adopted son who has special needs.
Nuala Hemphill

Parenting Practitioner, Trainer and Volunteer Peer Supporter

Nuala delivers workshops and courses for the charity as well as supporting the Trauma & Attachment Education Advocacy service. She has over 35 years’ experience as a teacher and manager in SEND. She is also an adult psychotherapist and a specialist trainer in trauma defences, reactive attachment, foetal alcohol syndrome, anxiety and ADHD. She adopted many years ago and is now a kinship grandparent carer.
Dawn Rimmer

Volunteer Peer Supporter

Dawn is a volunteer with the Trauma & Attachment Service and supports parents as well as events. She is involved in a number of local and online support groups and is Kinship Carer Champion with Grandparents Plus. She is a special guardian to her autistic grandson and also helps run the monthly Kinship Carer support group for PSC.
Val Robson

Volunteer Peer Supporter

Val is a volunteer with the Trauma & Attachment Service and supports parents as well as events. Val is an experienced adopter and kinship carer herself and also helps run the monthly Kinship Carer support group for PSC.
Ingrid Wittken

Volunteer Peer Supporter

Ingrid is a volunteer with the Trauma & Attachment Service and supports parents as well as events. On the professional front, she is a Chartered Accountant with many years experience in financial and general management. She is also the mother of two adopted daughters.

Trustees and Directors

Ellie King

Chairperson

Ellie works as a registered childminder, and was part of the group who set up the Diagnosis Support Service.
David Nader

Secretary

David is a regular attendee of the Dads and Male Carers Support Group. He has worked in the financial services sector for 13 years in various governance roles. With this corporate experience David has an interest in the funding and fundraising of the charity and as a regular support group attendee he tries to represent the views and opinions of other service users.
Sam Coombes

Treasurer

Sam first made contact with PSC as a service user at the end of 2017 following her daughter’s Autism diagnosis. Sam has worked in the financial services sector for 18 years. With her experience working in a corporate environment and a strong financial background, Sam has a particular interest in supporting PSC on future strategy.
Sarah Bamford

Trustee

Previously a business journalist, Sarah now works part time for Reading IASS, supporting parents whose children have Special Educational Needs.
Sarah Croxford

Trustee

Sarah was introduced to PSC in 2018 by Berkshire Health, for her youngest son with ASD, ADHD, SPD and hypermobility, and also more recently with her eldest son who has ADHD. Sarah has worked in sales and marketing roles within the technology sector for the last 20 years and brings skills in accessibility, digital and health strategies.