Our Team

Life, love and laughter.

Hilary Woodhead

Executive Director


Hilary is the Executive Director of NAPA and is responsible for all aspects of the charities work. Before joining NAPA Hilary held operational, service improvement, workforce development and consultancy roles for health, housing and social care providers, she has worked in local government, The NHS and the private and voluntary sectors.

She has a special and enduring interest in the care of support of people living with dementia, their families, and the staff who work alongside them. She is especially motivated by an interest in how people in receipt of care and support spend their day; she believes creating opportunities for meaningful interaction and companionship is central to good quality care and support In all settings.

Sue Trischitta

Office Manager


Sue is the office manager, training & development manager, QCF tutor and head of centre for the QCF courses. If you are interested in QCF or bespoke training, consultancy or audits, please speak to Sue, she will be more than happy to help

Gianna Burns

Project Manager


Gianna is the Project Manager, Magazine Editor and looks after the Annual Challenge and Gala. If you have any queries about the magazine or the challenge Gianna will be pleased to help.

Karen Birtchnell

Membership/Finance Manager


Karen is the Membership/Finance Manager, if you have a membership or finance query, Karen will be able to help

Alison Teader


Alison has worked as free-lance Project Officer for NAPA, managing the NAPA Choir Buddies project which was funded by Comic Relief. In her current position, Alison oversees the NAPA Arts in Care Homes project funded by The Baring Foundation and the Rayne Foundation. She has developed the Arts in Care Homes website www.artsincarehomes.org.uk , a user friendly resource for anyone wanting to organise arts activities in care homes. The site includes toolkits, links to useful websites, information on relevant research and a ‘How to Find an Artist’ section. Alison is also overseeing the organisation of the first National Day of Arts in Care Homes on 24 September, 2019. Duties include promotion, encouraging take-up for the event and organising related events such as the Only Connect pen pal project, developing community partnerships using creative writing. It is hoped that September 24 will become an annual event.

Trustees

Oliver Thomas

Chair


I have worked at a senior level in both the public and private healthcare sectors throughout my career. For the first 17 years, I worked in various organisations in the NHS, in both Acute hospitals and Community settings, mainly in the North West but also in the Midlands and Hertfordshire. In 1997 I joined Bupa’s Care Home business which grew during the time I worked for the company from 30 Care Homes mainly in the South East to over 300 Care Homes, looking after over 18,000 elderly and frail people throughout the UK. Initially I was responsible for 15 of the homes but as the company grew then so did my responsibilities until, in 2009, I was appointed to lead the whole UK business.

I retired in 2013 and since then have joined the boards of a couple of smaller Care Home companies in the South East, am a member of the board of a start-up company that initially provided coaching to staff in care homes but is now expanding to help sellers and purchasers of care homes. I joined Napa as a Trustee in 2018 and I am honoured to have been elected as Chairman of the organisation in 2020. I hope that the experience I have gained during my career will help the new executive team to extend the influence of NAPA as a force for good in the wider care sector over the next few years and I am really looking forward to working with both my fellow Trustees and the executive team.

For over 10 years I have lived in a beautiful part of West Yorkshire on the edge of both the Dales and Leeds and I am happy to take advantage of all that both the countryside and the city have to offer. I follow my football team around the country, take far too many photographs for the health of my hard drive and spend a lot of time travelling on the East Coast line into Kings Cross visiting my children, all three of whom live in London.

Gloria Haynes

Vice-Chair


My career in health and social care spans 30 years. My work has mostly focused on care homes for older people. I began by providing care and support to people living in care homes before moving into leadership and management of care home managers, working with statutory services, opening new care homes, leading projects to transfer groups of people out of old and into new care settings, training in dementia care and assessing care quality through audit and investigation are among some of the specialisms with which I have experience.

It is fabulous to see the changes that have taken place within care home services – especially in terms of meeting intellectual needs. The most successful services understand the importance of providing opportunities that help people remain engaged with ‘life’. Participating in fun and interesting things to do every day.

Much of my work has been in developing the quality of life for people who live with dementia. As well as training care teams in the provision of dementia care I introduced the Bucks Dementia Care Forum. This is a forum that provides an educational and supportive resource for anyone involved with or affected by dementia.

I am a social worker by profession with a post graduate diploma in dementia studies, an advanced dementia care mapping certificate and training qualification with Dementia Care Matters.

Steve Reynolds

Treasurer


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Annie Stevenson

Trustee


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Ed Watkinson

Trustee


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Jean Cattanach

Trustee & Marketing Sub Committee Lead


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Sue Ascott

Trustee


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Suzy Cooper

Trustee


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Sue Goldsmith

Trustee


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