Meet our Team

James Derrick

Director of Finance and Company Secretary

James joined Dame Hannahs in 2008 as Trust Resources Manager and has been a key player during periods of rapid growth, restructures, difficulties and change.

After gaining a History degree from Cardiff University in 2000 James commenced his accountancy career within a medium sized accounting practice in Winchester and gained his initial experience in accountancy, audit and tax. In 2003 James relocated back to Plymouth and continued his ACCA professional qualification, which he was awarded in 2006 whilst also working for a medium sized accountancy practice. This role enabled James to work with a wide variety of local and regional businesses. During 2007 James was appointed Directorate Accountant for the NHS working for a large local Hospital where he was responsible for the Corporate Directorates.

Wayne Fulton

Director of Services

Wayne started at Dame Hannahs in 2014 as Deputy Manager of Adult Services progressing to Registered Manager then Nominated Individual. He is now Director of Services. Before he joined Dame Hannahs he worked for another provider that specialised in supported living. He worked there for seven years and had a number of different managerial roles within that time.

“What I enjoy most about working at Dame Hannahs is seeing the young people we support living fulfilled and meaningful lives because of the care and support we provide. I have seen many changes over the last ten years including changes within the structure of the organisation, changes in social care practice, changes in regulation/legislation, the challenges of a pandemic. I have also seen the growth of Adult Services which has doubled in size since I have been in post, and most importantly seeing the people we support develop over the years with the support from the Trust. Looking to the future, we are implementing a new structure for the regulated services, we are looking at areas of investment to improve the site and the services we offer and as part of that, we are looking to develop/grow our regulatory provision for the benefit of the young people that require our support.”

Daniel Burke

Head of Fundraising and Retail Operations

Daniel joined Dame Hannahs in September 2011 as Head of Retail and then in 2018 he was appointed Head of Fundraising as well. Prior to working at Dame Hannahs he spent 10 years as a Director at a flooring company which supplied and fitted flooring to new build houses, where his main role was to oversee their build contracts.

“I first started at Dame Hannahs on a six month contract to reopen and establish our Devonport charity shop which had been closed for a period of time due to lack of volunteer support. After the initial six months I started to look at what improvements could be made to our other existing stores and took on the role as Head of Retail looking after all of the stores, its volunteer base and how we could look to expand this much needed income source.
During this initial couple of years I managed to increase the revenue that each store was achieving as well as the surplus it provided back to the Trust to support our services by changing existing processes, growing the volunteer support network and reducing costs. I then opened a further three stores and started the process of employing a part time manager within each store to create consistency and a point of contact for each store. In 2014 I introduced Dame Hannahs to Retail Gift Aid, a much needed income stream which also increases our interaction with our donors. To date this has generated us an extra £142,000 in free money to support our services in Ivybridge. I also moved our small Transit Way store into much bigger premises and opened our Transit way superstore as well as our own storage and distribution hub which services all of our store network. This was a thriving enterprise, which was massively supported by the local community and shoppers who would travel from much further afield until its enforced closure due to the termination of our lease by Tesco in 2023. Since then we have established a new thriving warehouse in Plymouth as well as a busy new shop in South Brent with more growth plans in the pipeline.
In 2018 I amalgamated the Trust’s fundraising and communications departments into my retail role and become the Head of Fundraising and Retail Operations where I now oversee all of our fundraising streams and communications to our supporter base either through printed or digital formats. This has also enabled me to become further involved with our Dame Hannahs Supporter Group whom I used to help at events but I am now involved with all year round."

Sam Bryant

Clinical Lead

Sam started at Dame Hannahs in August 2022 as our Clinical Lead, managing our Therapies and Nursing teams.

Sam qualified as a nurse in 2007 and worked as a paediatric nurse for ten years at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. She then moved into Complex Care in the community for Devon and Cornwall and took on managerial roles. It was then her nursing bank shifts in Children’s Services at Dame Hannahs that inspired her to take on her next job as Registered Manager of a children’s home in Tavistock. Following a change of ownership at the children’s home she decided to go back into Complex Care and became Nurse Manager for Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. This job involved a lot of travel so she then decided to look for a more regular job closer to her home in Plymouth. Sam has four children and in her spare time she can be found touring in her caravan or on a paddleboard.

“Everyone at Dame Hannahs has been so warm and welcoming. The care we provide is phenomenal and it really feels like home for everybody”.

Louise Hookins

Registered Manager – Transitions

Louise has just started as Registered Manager – Transitions. She is responsible for the management of the bungalows and her main responsibilities are to maintain compliance within the CQC regulations, with correct staffing levels, to manage the team and to follow the iStatements of Safe, Caring, Responsive, Effective and Well Led.

Louise has known about Dame Hannahs for years as she has always worked in the learning disabilities and care sector. Before joining the Trust she worked as an area manager for a provider of Multi Services in Plymouth and Cornwall. This covered children and adults with learning disabilities and the elderly. Louise started off her career as a care assistant and support worker before progressing to house manager and then registered manager.

“The team have all been really welcoming and are helping me to settle in. My induction and training so far has been very helpful. I have a lot to learn but I am really looking forward to getting stuck into the job and getting to know the young adults”.

Jonathan Floyd

Operations Manager

Jonathan is Operations Manager at Dame Hannahs. He joined in 2017 as Administrator and soon became Lead Administrator before moving onto become Office Manager. As Operations Manager Jonathan supports all service areas of the Trust. This involves micro and macro staff/rota management, people management, as well as change, process and system management. He also supports his colleagues in recruitment, training, administration, HR management and care quality compliance.

Jonathan first heard about Dame Hannahs at our Christmas Fayre and, having learnt more about the fantastic work we do, decided to apply for a job with the Trust. Before he joined Dame Hannahs he was a primary school teacher.

“What I enjoy most about working at Dame Hannahs is with our wonderful Adults as well as the teamwork dynamic and our diverse staffing teams. My main focus as Operations Manager is moving the Trust forward and supporting our staff teams to deliver the best outcomes for our client group. The ultimate goal is to strive for a gold standard in the services we deliver. During my time at Dame Hannahs the highlight has been watching and helping Adult Services grow to support more Adults, and to grow our amazing staff teams to enable this. The most rewarding aspect of my job is playing a small part in empowering and enriching the lives of our Adults.”

Dave Henderson

Maintenance Manager

Dave joined Dame Hannahs in November 2022 as Maintenance Manager. Prior to this he worked for the NHS for four years in the team responsible for maintaining surgeries around Plymouth, including a busy and challenging period throughout Covid. Before working for the NHS he was self-employed doing maintenance, painting, decorating and gardening. Dave went to school in Ivybridge so he has always been aware of Dame Hannahs as well as through his NHS work.

The favourite part of his job at Dame Hannahs is the interaction with all the staff and adults. He is always out and about around the site. He visits the bungalows regularly and is always working in the main buildings so he gets to see alot of people and is well known around the site.

“My favourite project so far has been the refurbishment of Gilleys bungalow as it was purely my team working there with no outside contractors. When we are doing work on a bungalow my team are really good at judging the mood of the residents and know how to adapt and work around them.

I think it is important for the staff to see my team around the site so I make sure that we are always out and about. The more approachable and contactable we are, the more involved we can get in fixing problems.

I was happy working for the NHS but I wanted to take a risk and try something new. I could see the potential for progression at Dame Hannahs and could see that it would be really rewarding. It is also a bigger role for me managing a team and I feel that I can really contribute to the adults’ lives”.

Linzi Pearse

Deputy Manager of Transitions

Linzi is Deputy Manager of Transitions at Dame Hannahs and has been a key member of the Care team for many years. She is responsible for managing the teams in the bungalows and liaising between management and the care staff.

Linzi started working at Dame Hannahs in 2009 as a support worker to the young adults in all the bungalows. Six years later she was promoted to Deputy Senior in Gilleys before progressing to Senior in Hayward. She was then promoted to Team Leader in Marchesi where she worked for seven years before taking up her new role in 2023.

“What I have enjoyed most over the years is seeing the adults growing in confidence, achieving their goals and enjoying life. It has been really rewarding to help them think up new ideas about how to get involved in activities, make their own decisions and take charge of some of their own care. I have got to know some of the adults really well as I have known them since I started 14 years ago.

My current job is very different as it is office based and there is a lot of paperwork but I enjoy working alongside the different departments and the adults know that they can come and visit me anytime. A lot of them like Andrew and Bex book regular meetings with me and, even if it is just for a few minutes, it is a lovely way of keeping in touch. Sometimes I also arrange to have lunch with some of them."

Baukje Gregory-Schroder

Speech and Language Therapist

Baukje is one of our Speech and Language Therapists and has been a key member of the Therapies team at Dame Hannahs since 2007. Originally from the Netherlands, she studied at Eindhoven University where she gained a degree in Speech and Language Therapy. She started at Dame Hannahs as a Speech and Language Assistant whilst her degree was converted into an English equivalent.

Baukje moved to England in 1993 to marry Peter who comes from Devon. When she first arrived, Baukje worked for the Learning Disability Service in Plymouth where she stayed for 10 years. In 2003 she joined the Learning Disability Parenting Team run by the NHS and Plymouth City Council. She was part of a multi-disciplinary team assessing and supporting parents with learning disabilities. Before joining Dame Hannahs Baukje had been aware of the organisation through her other jobs.

“It is such a lovely atmosphere at Dame Hannahs. I love working as part of a multi-disciplinary team and the adults and staff feel like family to me. My job is highly specialised and varied and I constantly have to adapt. Our caseloads consist of communication and Dysphagia (supporting people with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties) work. My passion is working with people who are pre-verbal, using a variety of means to connect and engage with them. Approaches such as Intensive Interaction can be so powerful. Just watching someone like Sam lift his head, smile and vocalise is so rewarding to see. It helps to build trusting relationships and encourages fundamental communication skills.

Over the years, I have really enjoyed watching the young people from school grow up into adults. I have seen them mature and develop and I have built up relationships with them and their parents. I am also proud of our team, although now very small; we work well together and still manage to deliver a high quality service. We are always striving to create a Total Communication environment using speech, objects, photos, symbols, Makaton signing. I find it really fulfilling to help people express themselves, support their understanding and ensure they are actively involved in their lives. This gives them a voice, supports them to stay healthy and promotes emotional well-being and quality of life.

The Trust supports us to be flexible and creative in our assessment and management of the adults’ communication and dysphagia needs. It is important that the adults have opportunities to develop and maintain their communication skills both one to one and group sessions. We run a variety of groups focusing on communication and swallowing. We also support the activities coordinator in running weekly sessions such as Chill and Chat on Monday and Together Tuesday, where communication is an essential part of the adults’ participation and connection with those supporting them.

Throughout Baukje’s time at Dame Hannahs, the Trust has supported Continued Professional Development. She gained a Post Graduate qualification in Dysphagia and she has trained to become a Makaton regional tutor. She continues to develop her skills in AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) as the relevant technology changes all the time. She has recently completed a course in Cervical Auscultation; this is an additional tool to help assess people’s swallowing skills.

Muhammad Atif

Physiotherapist

Muhammad started as our new Physiotherapist in November 2023 having recently moved from his home country of Pakistan. Before applying for the job he had heard about Dame Hannahs from the locals in Plymouth, many of whom know about the charity.

In Pakistan Muhammad was working at the Holistic Cure Clinic in Lahore as a Senior Physiotherapist. Having gained his Bachelor’s Degree in Physiotherapy, he accumulated a lot of first-hand experience working in hydrotherapy, rebound therapy. hippotherapy and management of long-term conditions. He is also certified in acupuncture therapy for pain management.

Since starting at Dame Hannahs Muhammad has been developing each of the adults’ individual therapy plans, updating them and creating log sheets to help the support staff. With plans in place he has been able to delegate the therapies to his team as well as some of the support staff. He has had to focus on manual handling and slings more than he did in Pakistan.

Muhammad is from Lahore and moved to Plymouth in September as his wife had been awarded a scholarship to study for a Masters in Advanced Practice in Physiotherapy at Plymouth University. They already had a lot of friends from Pakistan living in the UK but they were the first to move to Plymouth. In his spare time Muhammad enjoys doing athletic activities such as mixed martial arts, hiking and adventures.

“Working at Dame Hannahs has been amazing. My team is a blessing and the way everyone works in synchronization is beyond words. Working with all the young adults has been so rewarding and they have made a huge impact in my life. At Dame Hannahs, we face challenges nearly on a daily basis but we adapt, learn and overcome.”

Ben White

Occupational Therapist

Ben has worked in the field of adult learning disabilities since 2009. He joined our Therapies team as the Occupational Therapist in 2022. Previously Ben has worked in a specialist college, residential care, day services, community learning disabilities, and for Combat Stress helping military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Ben’s role as an occupational therapist at Dame Hannahs has a broad area of responsibility which includes assessing sleeping, postural, social, and activities of daily living, needs and selecting suitable interventions such as prescribing specialist equipment, running therapy groups, or individual therapy strategies.

Ben grew up in the South Hams before joining the Army and serving for 8 years. Upon leaving the Army he settled in the Midlands and relocated back to the South Hams in 2022. In his spare time Ben coaches junior rugby and spends his time swimming and kayaking in the sea. Interesting facts are that Ben has cycle toured across Scandinavia and used to ski downhill competitively.

Speaking about his role at Dame Hannahs Ben said: “I’m passionate about helping adults who have learning disabilities and wanted to return to it, so when I moved back to Devon and saw this opportunity I applied. Now I’m proud to be a part of such an amazing and well established organisation. It really is a privilege to work here”.