Iain Cant - Chair of the Board of Trustees Expand I have been a trustee and director of the company since 2003 and was appointed as chairman in 2015. My professional career of over 40 years has been in architecture and I bring my experience in commercial business and knowledge of property matters to assist our senior management team in these important areas of the company. I am committed to assisting in delivery of the life changing service that we provide to all of our service users and maintaining our reputation with stakeholders.
Pete Hughes - CEO Expand I'm responsible for overseeing Leeds Autism Services day-to-day operations and development of vision and strategy. I am passionate about ensuring all adults with autism have their abilities recognised, are treated with fairness and respect, and have equal opportunity to live successful and fulfilling lives. I believe that education is essential in creating a society where autistic people are accepted and understood. Part of my role includes delivering autism training which promotes positive thinking about neurodiversity. We deliver training to public and private entities, as well as to our own staff, families and carers. We also work with businesses and public bodies to make their environments and workplaces more accessible to autistic people. The best part of my job is seeing the people who we support overcome their difficulties to achieve their goals; you can't get much more job satisfaction than that! I'm also very proud of our staff team, who are skilled, passionate and dedicated to delivering the best support they can.
Katie Turner - Care Operations Manager Expand I’ve worked at LAS since December 2017 and wouldn’t change my job for the world! As Care Operations Manager I get the best of both worlds; I am involved in strategic planning and development of the organisation whilst still maintaining a high level of direct contact with the individuals we support (this is the bit I love the most). Having started my career as a support worker this is where my heart is, so am always willing to take time out to support the individuals we work with.
Tracie Jordan - Chief Financial Officer Expand I have been a member of the Senior Management team since I started working for LAS in 2013. After many years working for local government, I decided to change direction and work for the charities sector; I then spent some time living abroad working with pre-school children. On my return to the UK, my skills were a good fit for the role of Chief Finance Officer.
Danielle Furness - Partnership & Development Officer Expand I joined the company over 5 years ago to become the Partnership and Development Officer. I coordinate fundraising events, create the LAS quarterly newsletter, manage the website and social media, develop charity partnerships and awareness campaigns. I have a passion for people and making the world a better place.
Leila Barr - VACS Schedule Coordinator Expand I'm the VACS Schedule Coordinator for both Mabgate and Grape Street. I've been at LAS since I completing a student placement with the organisation back in 2008. I have worked as a Support Worker, Shift Leader, Deputy Team Manager and acted up as Team Manager for 6 months. I'm passionate about seeing people reach their potential and accomplish their goals!
Al Mayes- Health & Safety Officer Expand I am now the Health & Safety Officer after completing the Deputy Manager role at Ashlar House. I have been with Leeds Autism Services for 10 years and, within that time, have carried out a variety of roles for the organisation across all three sites. I am an approachable manager who is passionate about providing exemplary, person-centred support, and helping the staff team to do the same.
Vicky Dunne - Training Manager Expand I have worked at Leeds Autism Services since 2013 and started as a support worker. Over the years, I have had the great privilege of supporting the people who use our service, as well as working alongside such a great staff team. I am now the Training Manager and my job role is to ensure staff are well trained to support individuals safely and effectively, as well as making sure our staff team have good professional development opportunities.
Brooke Asquith - Senior HR Officer Expand As the Senior HR Officer, I manage both the HR & Training team, providing support to the staff and across the organisation. I have many years of experience managing people and working with HR within the charity sector. I am passionate about the work that we do here at LAS and I have a strong focus on employee wellbeing, development and engagement. I love to drive improvements forward in order to support LAS to be the best it can be, meaning we can provide the best possible service to our service users every day and ensuring that all of our colleagues feel valued and supported.
Bethan Coffey - Grape Street Team Manager Expand I have worked for Leeds Autism Services for the last 3 years in various roles across Mabgate, Ashlar House and now as Registered Team Manager at Grape Street and the Independent Supported Living. I am passionate about providing person centred support to achieve the best outcomes for the people we support and that they have positive experiences whilst accessing our services
Megan Harvey - Grape Street Deputy Team Manager Expand I have worked at LAS for over 4 years now, in various roles across the VACS bases, Ashlar House and our Independent Supported Living service. My favourite thing about coming to work is seeing the people we support achieve goals – and we have fun while doing it! We really are a massive, supportive team which makes all the difference.