I became involved with The Potential Trust because I passionately believe in supporting children with High Learning Potential (HLP) and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as well as being bright (which in the UK is called Dual and Multiple Exceptionality, or DME), especially those who come from low-income backgrounds or who are otherwise vulnerable.

I have worked in education and training for more than forty years with a range of groups, including ex-offenders, children with SEND, young people at risk of offending and those who, for a variety of reasons, struggle in mainstream school. For ten years, I was Chief Executive of the national charity, Potential Plus UK (formerly The National Association for Gifted Children), which works with children and young people with HLP, their families and schools.

Since 2017, when I left Potential Plus UK, I have focused on work relating to ‘hidden potential,’ including supporting individuals and their families and schools to remove barriers to potential relating to social, emotional and mental health issues, SEND, HLP and DME as well as financial and other areas of disadvantage.  

I am currently a Non-Executive Director of the Nisai Education Trust, a volunteer Adviser with Citizens Advice in Northumberland and a Non-Executive Director of Potential in Me, a coaching community interest company based in Glasgow. I am the co-author (with Adam Boddison) of ‘The School Handbook on DME’ and the author of ‘Parenting Dual Exceptional Children’.