About Us

The following films show what the programme did in the early years

You can see the evaluation from phase 1 of our programme:

I have worked with people with Learning Disabilities since the early 1990s. I first worked as a Job Coach, and then as a Social Worker and Team Manager. We have a plan in North Wales. People with Learning Disabilities have told us what is important to them.

They want good homes, relationships, jobs, good physical and mental health and the chance to be a part of their communities.

I am very lucky to be part of the team and wider community whose job it is to make sure these things can happen for people with Learning Disabilities and their families in North Wales.

I was delighted to join the North Wales Together team in September 2024. 

I am qualified as a teacher but I have spent most of my career working for charities and for over 30 years I have enjoyed working and volunteering alongside children and adults with learning disabilities in a wide variety of roles.

I live in Gwynedd and love the mountains. Both of these passions started when I went on a weekend camp alongside young people from special needs schools at the age of 12.

I never looked back! Having introduced and led Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) for a national charity over the last ten years I am now working alongside Jonathon Crabbe to support this across North Wales. 

Alongside this I’ll be supporting accommodation planning, especially where people’s needs are more complex to plan for, helping our North Wales Community Learning Disability nurses to test out ways of supporting people sooner and working on projects across the region that aim to improve ‘the right support’ for people with learning disabilities.

I have worked with people with learning disabilities and their families for 25 years.

I used to help people to claim benefits. Then I worked with people with learning disabilities and their families in Denbighshire to plan how support services should look.

I really want to help improve support for people with learning disabilities in North Wales, and make sure they get to live a great life.

I hope that the Learning Disability Transformation Project will help to make positive changes to the way people see people with learning disabilities.

I joined the North Wales Together regional team in 2019 shortly after relocating to North Wales from Scotland.

In Scotland I worked for over 20 years in the employment support sector. My passion was ensuring that people with disabilities had equal access to the support they needed to be in paid employment. I was thus delighted to take the lead for the Supported Employment Workstream in 2021.

This in turn has made it possible to focus that passion on ensuring that people with learning disabilities across North Wales can have the same chances as the rest of the population to be in meaningful, paid employment.

Over 34 years I have worked within the field of Learning Disabilities.

For the last 15 years I have been a Social Care Practitioner as part of the Denbighshire Complex Disabilities Team, formerly the Learning Disabilities Team.

I have developed a good working knowledge and experience of multi agencies and disciplines associated with Learning Disabilities and have championed a number of areas, including Telecare and Direct Payments.

I will be scoping the use of existing applications and need for new applications as well as investigating the development of health screening and telehealth applications.

I am excited to be part of the Learning Disabilities Transformation project, taking the Learning Disabilities strategy forward for the future to promote and enhance the lives of people with a Learning Disability.

I studied Psychology and have experience as a Support Worker and Team Leader for people with learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities and mental health problems.

Later, I spent over a decade working in the Criminal Justice System before joining North Wales Together in 2020. I enjoy working with children and young people with learning disabilities and aim to help them live their best lives.

Currently, I am monitoring our community projects and will return to the Children and Young People’s workstream in 2025.

I have extensive experience working with individuals with learning disabilities and their families and carers across North Wales, having spent many years in roles including Advocacy Officer, Person Centred Planning Officer, and Officer within the Carers Outreach Service.

As a proud parent of a young person with a learning disability, I bring both professional and personal insight to my work. I lead the Children and Young People’s workstream within North Wales Together Project.

I am proud to be part of the North Wales Together team, and I am deeply committed to ensuring that services, people with learning disabilities, and their parents and carerswork in genuine partnership to transform  support and services in North Wales so that children and adults with learning disabilities can lead better, more fulfilling lives.

I have worked for the local authority for over 15 years and joined North Wales Together team at the beginning of 2020 as a business support officer supporting the team and projects.

Having a brother with Learning Disabilities I have seen first hand the benefits of paid work and the effect it has on an individual and their family.

In the past couple of years, I started a new role as a Regional Monitoring Officer for the North Wales Supported Employment Service along side Kim Killow, a service which I am passionate about. 

The Programme Board plays a crucial role in supporting all six North Wales Local Authority areas and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Our mission is to deliver the aims of the North Wales Learning Disability Strategy.

The Board is responsible for planning and monitoring the activities of the programme team on behalf of the North Wales Learning Disability Partnership Group and the Regional Partnership Board.

To achieve our goals effectively, the Programme Board ensures:

• Clear and Consistent Strategic Direction: We stay focused on our long-term objectives.
• Strong Leadership and Accountability: We maintain robust leadership and clear lines of responsibility.
• Commitment to Quality: We continuously strive to improve the quality of our work.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: We foster a spirit of teamwork, collaboration, and partnership.
• Risk Management: We actively identify and manage risks.
• Informed Decision-Making: Our decisions are based on solid information and evidence.
  

North Wales Together reports directly to the Programme Board. The Board monitors our project plans, ensuring we set and meet the right targets. 

View the project board’s terms of reference below:

• Craig Mcloud. Chief Officer of Flintshire County Council.
• Michelle Williams. Citizen Representative and Co-chair. 
• Nichaela Jones. Interim Head of Operations. Learning Disability. BCUHB. Project Sponsor. 
• Gethin Morgan. Head of Regional Collaboration. 
• Kathryn Whitfield. Programme Manager, North Wales Together. 
• Karen Chambers. Senior Manager. Flintshire. 
• Jennie Lewis. Parent Carer Representative. 
• Jacqui Caldwell. Parent Carer Representative. 
• James Lewis, Citizen Representative. 
• Housing Associations Representative. Vacant seat. 
• Alison Cowell. BCUHB Child and Adolescent Health. 
• Jonathan Davies. Accountant. 
• Lisa Smith. Finance Support Officer. 
• Nicola Stubbins, Director. Denbighshire. 
• Michael Reay. Service Manager, Denbighshire.  
• Catrin Perry. Head of Adult Service, Conwy County Council.
• Ramona Murray/ Ffion Edwards Roberts. Service Manager. Conwy County Council. 
• Aled Davies. Head of Service. Gwynedd
• Llinos Rowlands. Service Manager, Gwynedd County Council 
• Arwel Owen. Head of Service.  Ynys Mon
• Fon Owen. Director. Ynys Mon.
• Ceri H Jones. Service Manager, Ynys Mon. 
• Tracy Jones. Head of Service. Wrexham. 
• Claire Higgins, Anheddau. 
  

Kathryn Whitfield and the rest of the team would like to thank the board for their continued advice, guidance and support. Their perseverance and commitment to the aims of the strategy has been invaluable. We would also like to thank Sarah Bartlett and the Regional Collaboration unit, and Dr Ceryl Davies of Bangor University, without whom there would be no strategy.