Our mission is to work collaboratively with people to raise quality and standards whilst making sure that dignity and respect are at the heart of service delivery.

Jerry Conway

Associate Director

Jerry has 30 years experience in care management and training across the West Midlands. He worked for the Skills Funding Agency liaising with care/voluntary organisations. He became self employed in 2009 working on various social care projects, now mainly teaching Focusing, promoting self-acceptance and empathy

Skills

Jerry has excellent people skills and brings business practice in care management and training skills. With a MA in Social Research he acquired research, data analysis and report writing skills.

Experience

Jerry is passionate about empowerment, setting up a limited company with a group of disabled people. He is trustee and director of Ourway Self Advocacy and a Director of the British Focusing Association CIC.

Liz Heaven

Associate Director

Liz is a registered Social Worker and has over 35 years' experience working social work and learning and development roles. More recently Liz worked for Skills for Care, latterly as Manager for the Midlands area. Liz has personal experience as a carer.

Liz is an Independent Board Member for a local registered social landlord and particularly interested in the links between care, health and housing.

Skills

Liz has excellent interpersonal and communication skills including training, mentoring and coaching; leadership and management development; analytic and strategic thinking; performance management systems and techniques; business planning; project management and report writing.

Experience

Liz’s experience includes collaborative partnership working, strong leadership and team building with individuals, businesses, local authorities, independent organisations and funding agencies. Business planning and sustainability are key areas of focus.

For Safe and Settled, Liz acted as Project Manager delivering a volunteer development project in the Black Country.

Liz frequently co-delivers learning and development commissions with Jan. She has a strong knowledge base in regard to the legislative and regulatory framework for care and support and housing services.

Colleen Lane

Associate Director

Colleen is a registered Social Worker with many years experience working as a senior manager within residential and day Health and Social Care services. She is a specialist working with older people particularly those people suffering from dementia.

Skills

She has exceptional skills in performance management; financial management, workforce development; quality assurance; developing policy & procedures to meet standards; business planning and counselling.

Experience

Colleen held strategic roles in the management and development of services for older people with dementia. She has extensive knowledge of working on projects to raise awareness, manage change. She values dignity and respect within all aspects of supporting care for others.

Tracy Wharvell

Director

Tracy’s career in social care began over thirty years ago as a practitioner delivering social care. She has worked at a national level influencing social care policy development across a number of government departments. Tracy has been supporting social care providers to improve, develop and diversify services.

Skills

Tracy is a Chartered Management Accountant, a Chartered Director (Institute of Directors), exceptional business strategist and prolific networker.

Experience

Tracy has had an extensive career across social care, running businesses and developing services. Her experience ranges from business start-ups to managing multi-million pound projects, bringing new products and services to market at national, regional and local levels. She chairs Hull and East Yorkshire CAB.

Grace Wood

Associate Director

Grace has 40 years' experience in NHS Human resource management and learning and development within the voluntary sector. A qualified workforce planner she is passionate about quality and dignity standards of service delivery and competence of staff.

Skills

Grace has excellent interpersonal skills, a confident negotiator with finely honed mediation skills, together with skills in leadership, project management, customer care, communication, learning and development, managing change and quality auditing.

Experience

Grace has substantial management experience within health and social care workforce development. She has held leadership and strategic roles including Regional Manager for Skills for Care. She has held several chair positions over the years and is currently active with Healthwatch Derbyshire.