BASE National Executive Committee

BASE is governed by a National Executive Committee elected by its members within each of the seven regions. The role of the NEC is to provide support and scrutiny as well as linking the national organisation with grass roots members. The NEC meets several times a year, usually in Manchester, and you can find details of our annual reports, Treasurer's reports and AGM minutes here.

Laura Davis

Position: 
Chief Executive
Region: 
National
Address: 
Room 58, Aldershot Enterprise Centre, Louise Margaret Road, Aldershot GU 11 2PW
Email: 
laura.davis@base-uk.org
Phone: 
01252 912829
Laura has extensive experience of the Supported Employment sector, managing Ways into Work from 2005 and taking it out of the local authority as a community interest company in 2015. Leading the new organisation as Managing Director, Laura won a number of new contracts to rapidly expand the service. In 2018, Laura left to take up a new role as Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Dean Atkinson

Region: 
Midlands
Agency: 
Coventry City Council
Email: 
dean.atlkinson@coventry.gov.uk
Phone: 
024 7697 6796
Dean is the chair of our Midlands Regional Network and represents Midlands members on the National Executive Committee. He started his career in Adult Social Care in the 1980’s working in residential care and day services for people with learning disabilities. In 1993 he was involved in setting up and managing Coventry’s first employment service for people with learning disabilities. He attended his first supported employment conference, loved the approach and the people he met and has been passionate about the impact it can have on people lives ever since. Dean currently has strategic responsibility for supported employment in Coventry along with responsibility for managing a large portfolio of ESF funded projects as part of the Council’s Employment and Skills Service.

Matt Britt

Position: 
Vice Chair
Region: 
South West
Matt has over twenty years experience of working in social care and has worked within local authorities, colleges and, primarily, the third sector. He has a broad range of experiences from delivering vocational qualifications, project managing ESF-funded projects and developing social enterprises that employ people with learning disabilities.

Robert Elston

Position: 
Treasurer
Region: 
South East
Agency: 
Status Employment
Address: 
Status Employment, 6 West Way Gardens, Shirley, Croydon, Surrey CR0 8RA
Email: 
r.elston@statusemployment.org.uk
Phone: 
0208 655 3344
Robert has over 30 years experience of working within Supported Employment and manages Status Employment, a voluntary sector agency supporting people with mental health needs in south London. He has been active in the European Union for Supported Employment, for many years acting as Treasurer. Robert has also been Treasurer of BASE since it was founded in 2006.

Julia Green

Position: 
Chair
Region: 
Midlands
Agency: 
North Northamptonshire Council
Address: 
Patrick Road Resource Centre, Patrick Road, Corby NN18 9NT
Email: 
julia.green@nass.uk.net
Phone: 
01604 361033
Julia is the Manager of the Employment and Disability Service (EADS) and LIVE (learning, independence, volunteering and employment) teams, both specialist supported employment services within Northamptonshire County Council. Both teams provide bespoke support to people across Northamptonshire with disabilities and complex health conditions, working hard to raise aspirations and supporting people to achieve meaningful and sustainable employment.

Rachel Jones

Region: 
North West
Agency: 
BASE
Address: 
Salford CVS
Email: 
rachel.jones@base-uk.org
Phone: 
07432 697246
Rachel has over 20 years of experience of working in Social Care and had worked with local authorities and disability provider services within the VCSE sector. Rachel has a wealth of experience in commissioning & managing European Funded Projects, writing a wide range of bids, tenders & grant applications, that support better outcomes for people with disabilities within Employment and wider across all of Health & Social Care Services. Rachel was joint founder of Smart Works Greater Manchester in 2015 establishing a London based charity that’s support women returners to work. Rachel is now working as a Project Manager within The Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership under the GM Combined Authority.

Petra Kennedy

Region: 
Wales
Agency: 
Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind
Address: 
Unit 4, Triangle Business Park, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 4TQ
Email: 
petrakennedy@mtib.co.uk
Phone: 
01685 370072
Petra represents Welsh members on the National Executive Committee and is the Secretary of BASE Wales. Petra has been involved with Disability Employment Services and Supported Employment since 2002 and is keen to develop the involvement of Welsh members.

Alistair Kerr

Region: 
Scotland
Agency: 
BASE
Email: 
alistair.kerr@base-uk.org
Phone: 
07790 399466
Alistair represents Scottish members on the National Executive Committee. He has been involved with Supported Employment & sustainable procurement since 2002. In 2012 Alistair supported The First Minister in Scotland to launch the Supported Business Advisory Board in partnership with Senior Procurement Officials from Central Government Procurement Directorate. This Board is still in operation today. In 2012 he supported the First Minister to launch a ground breaking social enterprise in Scotland, in response to thousands of disabled workers being made redundant in the UK, enabling the Scottish Governments Sustainable Procurement Strategy & Duty to be enacted for those who meet the EU Procurement definitions to tender for such contracts from both the public & private sectors. Alistair is a co-founder of three Supported Business Procurement Frameworks, Central Government Procurement, Scotland Excel & NHS Strategic Procurement.

Kathy Melling

Position: 
Co-opted member
Agency: 
Melling Training and Consultancy
Email: 
kathy.melling@base-uk.org
Kathy has worked in the supported employment sector since the late 1970s in both the USA and UK, and was a very lucky person to be trained by Marc Gold. She has been involved with BASE since its inception. She now works as a consultant and trainer after a longer career in public services. In her spare time, Kathy supports a range of community and voluntary sector organisations in Kent as well as Charlton Athletic.

Alex Seddon

Region: 
South West
Agency: 
Discovery
Address: 
2nd Floor, The Exchange Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater TA6 4RR
Email: 
alexandra.seddon@discovery-uk.org
Phone: 
0300 303 9001
Alex is the Head of Supported Employment & Community Enterprise for Discovery based in Somerset. She has been working in the social care industry for 10 years and has over 20 years’ experience of working in employment and training. Alex has worked with local authorities, DWP, colleges and other third sector providers to deliver on a variety of contracts throughout the UK.

David Stenning

Region: 
South East
Agency: 
The Education People
Address: 
County Hall, County Road, Maidstone, ME14 1XQ
Email: 
david.stenning@theeducationpeople.org
David is the operations lead for Kent Supported Employment. He started his career in Supported Employment over 12 years ago as an Employment Support Officer. David has worked on various programs that have supported people with disabilities and disadvantages to seek, find and sustain employment, including DWP, ESF, NHS and school funded programs. He is keen to promote and develop the way the region engages with and supports employers.

Ramsay Taylor

Region: 
North East
Agency: 
Durham County Council
Address: 
County Hall, Aykley Heads, Durham DL1 5UL
Email: 
ramsay.taylor@durham.gov.uk
Phone: 
07901 339080
Ramsay has been working within Adult Social Care since 2013 beginning his career as a support worker for United Response and took a vested interest in supporting disabled people into employment. Ramsay started working as a Job Coach and went onto manage the operations of United Response’s Supported Employment services, running adult social care, DWP and education funded programmes. Ramsay is now working with Durham County Council to develop the DurhamEnable Supported Employment initiative as their Development and Quality Manager.

Melanie Walls

Position: 
Co-opted member
Agency: 
Shaw Trust
Address: 
Black Country House, Rounds Green Road, Oldbury B69 2DG
Email: 
mel.walls@shaw-trust.org.uk
Phone: 
07908 639 528
Mel Walls is the National Supported Employment and Training Manager at Shaw Trust. She works alongside Shaw Trust's 2 Supported Businesses plus 10 Social Enterprises and 30 Charity shops around the UK developing Supported training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Mel provides a link to the Supported Business Steering Group that acts as a voice for Supported Businesses across the UK and is developing the use of Access to Work and TESG across the sector. If you would like to discuss how any of these developments can be applied to your Supported Business or Social Enterprises, please give Mel a call.

Nerise Oldfield-Thompson

Position: 
Operations Manager, Inclusive Trading CIC
Agency: 
BASE
Address: 
16 Eden Terrace, Stanley, Co. Durham DH9 7LW
Email: 
nerise.oldfield@base-uk.org
Nerise spent 15 years within the local authority and voluntary sectors delivering and managing supported employment before taking the leap into self-employment. Following a number of years as a BASE associate, Nerise was appointed as Operations Manager for Inclusive Trading CIC in January 2022 and now leads our commercial activity. When she has a few minutes to herself she spends time in her allotment and, being a typical 'Geordie', shows leeks at her local leek show.

Gillian Parker

Position: 
Social media
Agency: 
BASE
Email: 
gillian.parker@base-uk.org
Gillian is a communication consultant who has maintained BASE’s social media presence since 2013. A sociology graduate, she describes herself as a mature self-confessed "geek" who loves all things techie.