Stuart Hall

Strategic Director

When he was born in 1996, Stuart’s son suffered a brain haemorrhage, leaving him with cerebral palsy, left hemiplegia, epilepsy, hydrocephalus and partial sightedness. In the early years, Stuart and his wife experienced a frustrating lack of support, resources and understanding.

Since the launch of Aiming High in 2008 however, Stuart believes that the picture has changed. He says “I am pleased to say that the needs of children and young people with disabilities and special needs seem to be much higher on Wiltshire Council’s agenda. I am proud to have played a part in the transformation of services in Wiltshire through my previous roles as Vice-Chair and Interim-Chair of the WPCC and it is very rewarding to see some of our achievements recognised at a national level.”

Stuart became Strategic Director of the WPCC in 2014. As Strategic Director of the WPCC, Stuart has overall responsibility for the Participation and Strategic work of the WPCC and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Service (SENDIS). Additionally, Stuart works locally, regionally and nationally with bodies including the National Network for Parent Carers (NNPCF), Contact and the DfE to ensure that the voice of parent carers and their experiences are not only heard at a local level in Wiltshire but also nationally to affect real change in services that families use. Stuart is an active member of many boards and working groups including FACT, the Local Offer Working Group, the Disability and SEN Trust Group, and Safeguarding of children and young people; additionally, Stuart meets regularly with many representatives of LA services, and organisations and services including health, commissioned providers and the voluntary sector.

You can contact Stuart using the details below.

Trudy Srawley
Chair of Participation.

Trudy joined WPCC as its Chair of Participation in 2014. She is a parent carer and is married with two, young adult children. Trudy has lived in Wiltshire all of her life and is dedicated to ensuring the voices of parent carers in our county are heard and represented.

Schools, dyslexia, social emotional and mental health, and support for parent carers, are just some of the areas of strategic work that Trudy focuses on. She also chairs our WPCC Steering Group.

Before joining the WPCC, Trudy worked for 10.5 years on Danone Nutricia’s baby careline, providing parents, carers and healthcare professionals with advice and support. Trudy also has experience in consumer insights events which she is enthusiastic about as she believes they promote good communication and help tailor information and services to families’ needs. Coaching/mentoring, counselling and emotional intelligence have also been a big part of Trudy’s work. Helping others has always been at the heart of what Trudy does and she enjoys being able to continue this in her role with the WPCC.

Kieran McCaldon
Office Manager

Graduating from Bath Spa University in 2016 with a 2:1 degree in Business Management, Kieran started working at the WPCC in February 2018. As WPCC’s Office Manager, Kieran is responsible for many aspect of the day to day running of the office behind the scenes including: managing and updating WPCC databases and membership, GDPR and Data Protection compliance, booking venues for events and arranging catering, finance, and general office administration, as well some providing some PA support to the WPCC’s Strategic Director. Kieran also produces WPCC’s Short Breaks Bulletin five times a year.

Kieran himself has an Aspergers diagnosis and says he understands and appreciates that life can be frustrating and confusing when Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are involved, especially when the disability is very much unseen. However, Kieran also said that he thinks there have been significant positive changes in recent years since he was at school, and said that “It has been great to see how much support people gain from WPCC and how it is able to give people a voice who otherwise would not be heard”.

You can contact Kieran using the details below.

Josh Hall
Admin Assistant

Josh has worked at Fairfield College for 9 years as a Customer Services Assistant. This has helped him to develop excellent administrative skills.

He has been a regular member of staff at the WPCC for 5 years. He works with his personal assistant Paula and is responsible for making sure the weekly newsletter is updated and goes out on time. He also updates data, proof-reads Short Breaks bulletins and gets them ready to send out – amongst other things.

In his own words, Josh says,” “I have Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Epilepsy, which is sometimes tricky, but I try not to let these things stand in my way. I love working as part of the WPCC team.”

In his spare time, Josh loves acting, drumming, writing and volunteering. He has been in two community acting projects and one pantomime. He is now looking forward to the next acting adventure – whatever that may be!

Natasha Canales
Volunteer Coordinator & Engagement Lead

Natasha Joined the team in November 2023; she lives in Wiltshire and has a daughter and two sons all with varying needs including Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia and Hypermobility. Two of her children have EHCPs and one attends a specialist school setting. Natasha has been navigating the SEND system for many years and she is passionate about supporting parents and families with SEND to help ensure they have all the information that is available to them to help navigate their individual journeys.

Natasha loves working with other parents of children with SEND, making a difference and empowering others to have a voice and have their say to help shape improvements to support families now and in the future.

Naomi Paterson
Engagement Team - North

Naomi lives in Wiltshire and has four children living at home whose ages range from 5 to 19. Two of Naomi’s children have additional needs ranging from ASD, ADHD, sensory processing difficulties and Pathological Demand Avoidance.

Over the years, Naomi has accessed training to become a Reiki practitioner, a Cool Kids with Cool Minds tutor, and a massage therapist.

As a member of WPCC’s Engagement team, Naomi is keen to work with settings and meet parent carers to help support families to know about the WPCC.

Having many years of experience of finding her way through the special needs system as a parent carer, Naomi was keen to volunteer to become a member of WPCC’s Engagement team. As member of the WPCC, Naomi wants to help ensure that as many parent carers as possible are aware of the WPCC, so that they can access support, reduce their struggles, and make sure their voice and experiences help to shape and improve the services they access.

VACANT POSITION

Laura Davies
Early Years Lead Parent Representative

Laura is a proud mum of three; a 9-year-old son and 7-year-old twins. Laura’s journey started as a parent carer very early on when her son who now attends specialist provision, was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and genetics deletion.

Laura’s daughter attends a mainstream school , with and EHC plan; she is diagnosed with ADHD and is on the Neurodevelopmental pathway.

Laura’s family of five are always busy; they regularly enjoy visiting their caravan in Burnham-on-Sea for well-deserved rest and chill breaks where her children enjoy going fishing with their dad, playing in the swimming pool and local parks.

Laura loves spending time with her family and is a big advocate of doing what works well for your family and always being kind to yourself when times are difficult. Laura has a passion for SEND that stems from her children's needs and she advocates for early intervention and inclusion. Laura really enjoys engaging with other parent carers and says she thoroughly enjoys working with the WPCC.

VACANT POSITION

VACANT POSITION

Keeley Cross
Lead Parent Representative for Health

Keeley is mum to four children, three of whom are neurotypical: Alistair 23 years old, Iona 21 and Cameron 18, and then her beautiful special child James who is 10.

Keeley’s son James has multiple and profound needs; he needs full time care, is fully tube fed, and has a long list of diagnoses. He has a chromosomal abnormality which has caused a long list of issues, affecting brain, heart, gut, growth, kidneys, bowel, respiratory health, hearing and vision amongst others.

Keeley says that being a mum of a child with profound needs has been a very steep learning curve, particularly related to his medical needs.

Keeley’s previous professional life involved her being an electrician for Wessex Water. Keeley describes her son as a gift. He has made her more understanding, more appreciative, more aware of the suffering of others, and probably the most important thing he has taught her is to be grateful for the small things in life. It is the joy that you find in the everyday mundane occurrences in life that makes everything worthwhile. Keeley says she is most definitely a ‘glass half full kind of girl’, and having James makes her appreciate the world around her.

Sue Saunderson

Committee member

Sue is a very proud mum of two beautiful sons. Her eldest is 17 and has a diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome and ADHD, and her youngest is 12 years old with a diagnosis of autism and ADHD.

Sue’s experience of accessing education has been very different with each of her sons. The youngest has had specialist help from a very early age through portage, stepping stones and specialist placements. In contrast, Sue has had to fight to get the same treatment for her eldest. Both of Sue’s boys receive funding from Wiltshire Councl to attend day placements at specialist schools located outside the county.

By working with the WPCC Sue hopes to be able to help improve local services so that they can make a greater difference to the lives of all who need them.

You can contact Sue using the details below.

Terry Morrish
Parent Representative – Events Front of House

Terry is a single mature father of a 10 year old boy who has been diagnosed with ADHD, Global Developmental Delay and sight impairment.

Terry’s son attends a mainstream primary school with an EHCP in place but is likely to be moving on to more specialised provision in the future.

Of the WPCC, Terry says “they have been an amazing lifeline in helping my son and I to obtain the help and benefits we were entitled to. I now feel the time is right to offer something in return and make a positive contribution to the WPCC”.

As a volunteer parent rep with the WPCC, Terry welcomes attendees as they arrive at events, he is on hand if attendees need help finding their way around venues, and provides general support to the WPCC team to help ensure the smooth running of events.

Laura Davies
PINS Project Lead

Laura is a proud mum of three; a 9-year-old son and 7-year-old twins. Laura’s journey started as a parent carer very early on when her son who now attends specialist provision, was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and genetics deletion.

Laura’s daughter attends a mainstream school , with and EHC plan; she is diagnosed with ADHD and is on the Neurodevelopmental pathway.

Laura’s family of five are always busy; they regularly enjoy visiting their caravan in Burnham-on-Sea for well-deserved rest and chill breaks where her children enjoy going fishing with their dad, playing in the swimming pool and local parks.

Laura loves spending time with her family and is a big advocate of doing what works well for your family and always being kind to yourself when times are difficult. Laura has a passion for SEND that stems from her children's needs and she advocates for early intervention and inclusion. Laura really enjoys engaging with other parent carers and says she thoroughly enjoys working with the WPCC.

Debi Phipps
PINS Worker

Debi has two children, both with complex needs including Autism, ADHD, Sensory processing disorder, mental health and physical health issues. Debi’s experience as a parent carer has given her a lot of experience of working with different professional teams and accessing support for herself and her children.

Debi cares for both of her children, but wanted to take on the opportunity at the WPCC as an Outreach Worker to help other families and pass on her learnt experiences where she can. Debi is really passionate about SEND children and their families, and enabling them to access help, support and/or activities.