Meet the Team

Kathryn Whitfield

Programme Manager

Update: April 2022 we welcome back Kathryn on a permanent basis

I have worked with people with Learning disabilities for 28 years, firstly as a Job Coach and then as a Social worker and Team Manager. When I first started, the All Wales Strategy was in full swing. We now have a new strategy, the North Wales Learning Disability Strategy. 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 revisit and embed these rights and coproduce solutions.

Steve Brown

Lead Officer for Commissioning and Procurement

For nearly 30 years I have been in Learning Disability Services, including 17 years here in North Wales with Flintshire County Council. I have a degree in Learning Disabilities from Manchester University, and have done a lot of work in ‘Positive Behavioural Support’. This means I have been able to work with people with more complex needs, to help them get the care and support they need in their local community. In the Learning Disability Transformation Project I will be working to make sure that people have the right accommodation and support to suit their needs. This means working with lots of different people across North Wales to find out what is working well and how things need to change in future.

View my Project Plan

Kim Killow

Lead Officer for Integrated Structures

I recently moved to North Wales from Scotland, and am delighted to be working with the Learning Disabilities Transformation Project. Back in Scotland, I was an inclusion development officer for over 20 years, working with communities to try to tackle the barriers that people can face to achieving their full potential. My role now is to work with individuals, families and services to try to make experiences of care and support from Health and Social Services more joined up and simpler. This will mean trying out different ways of working, and looking at how services could work better together when people are at different stages of their lives. My goal is to make a real difference to the quality of life of children and adults with learning disabilities in North Wales.

View my Project Plan

Mark John-Williams

Lead Officer for Wrexham

Having started as part of the all Wales strategy programme in 1986, I have worked with people with learning disabilities over the last 33 years. I have used person centred planning for the whole of my career, lead a participation team, managed a successful transition project, co-lead a leadership programme for people with learning disabilities and most recently was the director of the co-production network for Wales. I have a passion to make a difference on the ground and look forward to working with Wrexham to deliver on the project plans.

View my Project Plan

Paul Mazurek

Lead Officer for Assistive Technology

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.

View my Project Plan

Sioned Williams

Lead Officer for Isle of Anglesey and Gwynedd

With vast experience of working with individuals with learning disabilities and their families/carers in Gwynedd for many years. I am proud to be part of the North Wales Together team and am passionate about services, people with a learning disability and their parents/carers to be working together in partnership to transform services so that children and adults with learning disabilities can have a better life. My work will involve working with public and third sector, families and individuals to identify examples of good practice and share across the region and support areas to transform services.

View my Project Plan

Stephanie Hall

Planning and Development Officer for Accommodation and ALN

I have worked with people with learning disabilities as a support worker and team leader in the past. I also worked for over ten years as a probation officer, working with a number of people with learning disabilities to address offending behaviour. I am pleased to be a part of the Learning Disability Transformation Project as my goal is to help people lead better and more fulfilling lives. We have been working on a research project looking at post-school options for young people with learning disabilities in North Wales, the barriers they face and the gaps in provision. It’s been exciting being involved in recommending what needs to change. I am also working with Steve on accommodation, helping partners to look at who lives out of county and would like to live closer to home, and planning for accommodation for young people with complex needs approaching transition into adulthood.

Allison Lowry - Phillips

Planning and Development Officer supporting Communities & Culture and Workforce.

I have worked as a practitioner and manager in services for vulnerable people (children and adults) for the last 20 years in a variety of settings; prisons, custody suites, communities, residential and housing support. My most recent role was Workforce Development Manager for Flintshire Social Services delivering training to the social care workforce across SS, voluntary and independent sector. I am honoured to be working with the LD transformation project and offered this opportunity to contribute towards providing equal opportunities for people with learning disabilities. This is something personally I am very passionate about. I will be providing support to the Communities and Culture and Employment workstreams. I will be leading on the WFD workstream focusing on providing evidence based outcomes reporting, co-delivery of a values awareness session to the social care wokforce and developing a values based recruitment pathway within Flintshire local authority.

Helen Dransfield

Business Support

Having a brother with Learning Disabilities it is great to be involved in the project and the work they are doing. I have worked in Business Support within Social Services for over 12 years. I am looking forward to working in the team and the exciting challenges the role will bring.

Jeni Andrews

Lead Officer for Conwy and Denbighshire

As the Lead Officer for Conwy and Denbighshire, I help Conwy and Denbighshire to change (transform) the way people with learning disabilities are supported. 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.

Update 2022: Jeni has now left the team and returned to her previous role. We thank Jeni for all the work she has doen with the project and wish her well for the future.

View my Project Plan

Liana Duffy

Lead Officer for Community and Culture Change

With a background in homelessness, supporting people to live a good, full life is very important to me. I am really excited to be a part of the Learning Disability Transformation Project, focussing on community and culture change. I’ll be working with lots of different people across North Wales, trying to create more opportunities for people with learning disabilities to have the kind of relationships, activities and work opportunities they want.

Update: Following Covid-19, Liana has been called back to her substantive position on a permanent basis so is no longer with the team. Mark and Bev will be continuing with Liana’s work, so please view Mark and Bev’s project plans below.

Paul Hosker

Lead Officer for Health

For over forty five years I have worked in the National Health Service. I am a qualified and experienced General , Learning Disability and Mental Health nurse. I have helped to develop and manage Learning Disability services in North Wales since the 1980’s. I am delighted to take forward parts of the strategy linked to health and wellbeing. Specifically – to work together with the Health Liaison Team , Public Health Wales and other people so that more citizens have their annual health check and national health screening tests. I strongly support citizens and families having information that helps them to make good choices about their physical & emotional wellbeing so they can live healthy and happy lives.

Edit : Paul has now retired. We wish him all the best.

View my Project Plan

Sian Croston

Lead Officer for Workforce Development

I am delighted to join the North Wales Transformation Project leading on Workforce Development. I plan to identify and share good practice via the workstream and area leads as well as making links with regional workforce leads, third sector providers to work towards sustainable models of developing the workforce. The general profile and rights of people with learning disabilities needs to be raised within the wider community and general workforce, something which I am passionate about progressing over the course of the project. I will also be identifying and promoting health screening availability and ensuring quality accessible information is available and shared.

Edit: Sian has now returned to her substantive post. Check out the work she did and has left to used as a resource on our Workforce pages.

View my Project Plan

Beverly Futia

Lead Officer for Flintshire

As a qualified project manager and accountant with health and social care experience spanning over 10 years, I have spent the last 4 years working across the country, supporting service redesign projects in response to national guidance and budget reductions. I will be focusing on direct payments, voluntary and work opportunities and also advocacy as I work with people and organisations across Flintshire.

Edit: Bev has now left our team. We wish her all the best in her new role.