Peter joined Advonet as Chair in 2018. He has served as a Board Director, Governor and Trustee in many settings, including schools, The Leeds Playhouse, Northern School of Contemporary Dance and Partnership Boards. Peter was a very longstanding Leeds City Councillor representing the Cross Gates and Whinmoor Ward in East Leeds for 25 years.
Peter says:’ I think the work Advonet does is hugely important and I am very proud to be involved with colleagues, who are so passionate and dedicated to making a positive difference in peoples’ lives’.
Away from his charity roles Peter enjoys travelling, reading, the performing arts and keeping up with exercise.
I’ve specialised in working for family owned businesses, particularly those with major financial constraints. After rising from Management Accountant to Chairman, I took one family firm through administration and enabled it to break free from distress whilst retaining most of the jobs for the hard working employees. I now look to work with charitable organisations, like Advonet, that support and care for their uses.
After retiring, I felt I still had something to offer and its been good to give back to organisations that can benefit from that.
Finding the time to support charitable organisations can be difficult when you’ve had a full time career. After retirement though, you have much more time to give back. And, after being the Chair of a local garden society, you can do achieve anything!
I moved to Leeds in 1978 to take up a post with Leeds City Council and the City is now very much home. I worked for the City Council in Venue management, until taking early retirement in 2009. Many years ago I became a Citizen Advocate and eventually chair of Leeds Advocacy which specialised in learning disability issues and of course merged eventually with other organisations to form Advonet.
I maintain a keen interest in learning disability through Advonet’s involvement in the Learning Disability Projects, and volunteer with them. I enjoy contributing to Advonet’s governance at a strategic level on the board and feel very proud of the organisation’s record in delivering high quality services to some of the most vulnerable people in society.
After arriving in the UK at a young age, I attended various schools in this country and abroad. Studied History & Politics at Lancaster University. I lived in Munich after leaving University to study German at the Goethe Institute.
With two other people, I set up a Worker’s Photography Co-operative called “Photogenics”. I studied Tourism at Manchester Polytechnic and IT Technology at Thomas Danby College.
Did various jobs until settled on full time work at an insurance broker and then for an insurance company working in motor claims.
More than 20 years ago, I offered myself as a Volunteer Citizen Advocate and have been involved in this field ever since. I took part in the discussions that led to the formation of Advonet and have been a Trustee since 2014.
I’ve worked in the Local Authority and Higher Education sector for over 20 years, and I am currently working for Kirklees Council as a Structural Engineer. I joined Advocacy Support (one of the organisations which previously co-managed Advonet) as a board member in 2003 and took up the Vice Chairperson role from 2006.
I believe in social cohesion, inclusion, equality and harmony. I fully embrace the values of The Advonet Group in removing language, cultural, economic and social barriers to ethnic minority groups in the UK; in empowering minority groups in scrutiny of institutional inequality, disproportional social exclusion and in promotion of equal access to public services.
I have been involved since 2015 at Advonet in my role as a trustee (and formerly at Advocacy 4 Mental Health and Dementia) and have truly embraced the values of the organisation, working with the team to take it to the next level.
Professionally, I have been all over the place (!) with IT & consulting background with a blend of strategic & operational experience in various industry sectors.
Joined civil service in 2018, initially with PHE and now moved from the ONS on loan to the Cabinet Office PM C-19 Task Force since Nov 2020, serving in the directorate that provides the Prime Minister and Cabinet with the best evidence and analysis of policy options to defeat C-19. In the ONS I have served as a Senior Data Architect.
Prior to that, I have worked in private healthcare consulting in Leeds; also worked in various roles in multi-national corporations, managing complex IT projects, across several industry verticals.
Besides work, I am very passionate about sports and have been playing for East Leeds Cricket Club in first division leagues for many years.
Jodie is the Senior Social Value Officer at Matrix, working with councils, charities and schools across the UK to help upskill and empower people and help them excel in their careers. Prior to this she worked for Equality Together, a disability rights charity based in Bradford, Mind in Bradford as a Wellbeing Practitioner, as well as working as a Universal Advocate within the IMCA team here at The Advonet Group!
She came to Leeds in 2014 to study International Relations and Global Development at Leeds Beckett, then going on to study International Human Rights Law at the University of Leeds.
I am an experienced leader within the NHS, with experience in both operational management and strategic roles, leading on partnership working and improvement programmes. I have a passion for improving access and experience of health and care services and bring that into the delivery of my work.
I first became aware of Advonet when I was working as a manager in the hospital and saw the benefits of advocacy and the dedication of the advocates. Now, I work closely with the VCSE sector in Leeds as valuable partners in the health and care system in Leeds.
Outside of work, I am a mother to two girls in primary school, who keep me busy. I enjoy staying active and am currently working towards my black belt in karate.
Through my work I have come to understand the true impact of inequalities on people’s health and wellbeing and the moral imperative to do things differently. Advonet is an inspiring organisation supporting people to understand and be heard when it truly matters and I am proud to be Trustee.
I have six years of working in the third sector – supporting neurodivergent people live independent lives. Creating events, peer support facilitation and writing from personal experience add to my expertise.
As an adult with autism and ADHD, I enjoy supporting neurodivergent events. Meeting Advonet staff at these events was a great introduction to eventually becoming a trustee. Now a trustee, I’m able to offer advice on events, technology and funding initiatives.
