Cascade Trainers & Associates
Lindy Booth is the Managing Director of Cascade. Formerly Development Manager at Mind in Taunton & West Somerset (for 9 years), she has also worked in a variety of other organisations within the voluntary sector as a manager and fundraiser. A former committee member of the Institute of Fundraising South West and Co-ordinator of the Somerset Fundraisers' Group, she serves on several other local committees and is Chair of Sedgemoor Mind (New Directions). Lindy is a member of South West Training Services.
Lauren Evans is Training Director with Cascade. A modern languages graduate from the University of St Andrews, she completed a postgraduate qualification in Human Resources management and achieved Corporate membership (IPD). During a career spanning over 20 years in HR roles in the private and public sectors, including regional HR Manager post in the South West, she moved into HR consultancy 1998-2004. After a career break in 2005 to raise her two sons, she resumed academic studies and achieved a 1st class BSc degree in Social Sciences in 2005. She moved into the Voluntary Sector, supporting the newly formed Somerset Voluntary Sector Network in 2006.Since then she has completed a number of short assignments including a research project for the mental health charity Mind, on ‘Stress in the Workplace.
David Hancock (ACIB) - Trainer David Hancock spent over 30 years with Lloyds Bank including appointments working as PA to its Chief Executive and in management development training. Most recently he was Regional Commercial Director for the South West. Since 1995 he has undertaken consultancy and non-executive work in the private and voluntary sectors and for 9 years he has acted as Regional Co-ordinator for Charity Bank in this region. He is currently Chairman and Treasurer of a number of local charities. David runs Strategic Planning, Organisational Development and Financial Management programmes for Cascade and undertakes a range of in-house facilitation work with Boards of Trustees and Senior Management.
Patricia Marks is a business coach and trainer with a background in business development and marketing. Patricia has been running business courses for over 3 years, covering a range of topics including business planning, ideas generation, an introduction to business start up, data handling and presentation skills.
Mary Edwards (BA Hons, PGCE) has been working in the voluntary and community sector for over 10 years. She is passionate about funding and has worked as a funding advisor, a volunteer, management committee member, fundraiser, chair and trustee. She is a qualified teacher and an experienced adult trainer who undertakes consultancy work for several voluntary organisations in the South West. Mary also has extensive experience in publishing and the media, including: writing regular articles for The Guardian newspaper education pages; copy-editing several books; proof reading for commercial companies and contributing to social research reports.
Gillian Jeffery has worked in a variety of capacities in the statutory and voluntary sector. In the last twenty years she has worked for both Hampshire and Somerset Probation, managed a street homeless service and been a senior manager overseeing several housing projects including a Registered Care Home and a Home Support Service. Gillian has been designing and delivering training for employees of third sector services for the last 8 years, specialising in workshops that develop skills that assist staff who support service users and customers. She has experience of working with government departments and inspectorate bodies including Supporting People, the Housing Corporation and the Commission for Social Care. Her experience in relation to recruitment is extensive and includes organising recruitment events, managing interview panels and following CRB & POVA procedures. As an artist she is able to bring a unique approach to her training, using her illustrations to demonstrate and support the training aims. Through her art she runs cartoon graffiti workshops for children.
Jim McNeill (Sweet TLC) has long had hands-on experience in the Business, Arts, Public and Voluntary Sectors. After running his own catering businesses in the 1980s Jim moved to Bristol in order to focus on his writing and performing. During this time Jim was employed by both Bristol Social Services Department working with adults with learning difficulties. Between 1999-2002 Jim was a horticultural trainer with adults with learning difficulties and mental health issues at one of Bristol’s city farms. In 2002 he was appointed Director of Volunteering Bristol (Bristol’s Volunteer Development Agency). He has a successful record of fundraising and partnership initiatives and highly experienced at policy development and strategic planning. Jim is a CIPD qualified trainer, a member of the Institute for Learning and delivers successful training courses for the voluntary sector across the UK area as well as providing 1:1 Personal Development programmes for Senior Managers. He still continues to combine his love of the arts in a semi-professional capacity.
Sandra Duck (Sweet TLC) has a background in sales and marketing, allied with great experience of the not-for-profit sector. From the late 1980s she worked for Alexandra plc, managing a team of 40 sales and customer service staff handling client accounts totalling £20m. In May 2000 she joined the world renowned Bristol Blue Glass as General Manager where she won a national business award, presented by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. From 2005 she worked part-time as a business advisor and has developed and delivered training, learning and consultancy in a freelance capacity. In 2006 she started a network in Bristol for Women in Business. Inclusive and welcoming, it had the explicit aim of being open to all women including those working in the third sector as well as those who were only at the stage of thinking about starting their own business. She has considerable experience in helping numerous small organisations to develop their own internal HR systems, networking skills and business strategies.
Colin Dyson (Sweet TLC) has 15 years of experience working in or managing day centres, hostels, prisons and supported housing. He has run his own training and consultancy company over the last seven years and has worked with a broad range of organisations across the homeless and supported housing sector, developing working practise and standards. As well as experience as a worker and operational manager in the Social Care sector, Colin’s training is underpinned by a considerable body a technical knowledge in the delivery of learning to adults obtained thorough study for a Post Graduate Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education. Colin has developed particular training expertise in promoting service user participation, assessment skills, evaluation skills and the management of risk, and is constantly developing new courses to respond to the developing needs of Social Care providers.
Jane Galloway (of Arclight Solutions Ltd) is a freelance fundraising, marketing and communications consultant. Jane started her career in the health care sector before moving into the business world and then in 1994 into the 'not for profit' sector as Appeal Director for Macmillan Cancer Relief where she successfully raised £1.2 million for a new cancer care centre in Glamorgan, Wales. Further experience was gained working as an Appeal Director at a London University Teaching Hospital, coordinating a £3million capital appeal. Subsequent to this, in 1997 Jane was appointed marketing director and then chief executive for a UK national conservation charity.Jane's skills were further broadened in 2004, when she became director of communications and fundraising for a UK national disability organisation. The breadth of Jane's experience in the commercial and charity sectors have given her exposure to most of the issues that organisations face, as well as insight into appropriate solutions, making her ideally qualified to assist organisations with their training needs and ongoing strategic development.
Helen Dowling started her successful company - Exceptional Thinking - in 2003, and is its main driver. Helen is a professional marketer who specialises in working with small businesses. She has recently won the title of ‘Networker of the Year’ in the Midlands Business Awards and been nominated as a finalist in several business competitions. Helen lives in Gloucestershire and sits on many business panels as well as being one of the resident experts of the ‘Business Startup Community’.
Rachel Sweet is a Customer Service enthusiast and firmly believes that everyone within an organisation no matter how large or small, has to put their customers at the heart of their business. No Customers = No Business!
With over 15 years of experience in customer service environments such as retail, hospitality, tourism, and the care sector - Rachel knows what satisfies customers and what can be done to make them come back as well as bring their friends and family with them. Rachel's specialist training subjects are Customer Service and Sales/Business Development. Rachel has worked with such companies as Virgin, Business Link, The Somerset Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Superdrug, Western Provident Association (WPA) as well as several organizations within the tourism, hospitality and retail sector.
Pardoes Bevins Human Resources Ltd is a HR consultancy based in Somerset covering the South West of England. Rebecca Bevins (Managing Director) and her team are able to deliver in house and public training courses on a range of personnel/HR management subjects such as absence management, performance management and recruitment skills, courses for employees and line managers including communication and assertiveness, leadership and managing a team and courses for individuals such as interview skills. Bespoke courses can also be written to meet individual business requirements. Debbie Jayne has worked for the company for over 2 years as a consultant and trainer. She previously worked as an HR Manager and Area Personnel & Training Manager assisting and working with over 6,000 employees and she has a wealth of experience in dealing with situations arising through employment.
Shaun Byrne is an experienced Organisational Development Consultant, working with ProAction CIC and Prism People Performance Solutions (P3S). He has wide-ranging experience of the Leadership and Management function and has been a manager within, and consultant to, the aerospace sector. He also has previous experience of working with commercial, local government and voluntary organisations at an international level. An effective communicator and facilitator, Shaun has the ability to get teams and groups working quickly and effectively. Shaun has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management Studies and has the BPS Occupational Testing Qualification: Levels A & B.
Andrea Ryland has a successful background as a senior human resources professional and 20 years’ experience with Rolls-Royce plc prior to starting her own consultancy and training business in 2001. She has a participative leadership style and a track record of achieving results through the involvement and commitment of people. Andrea has expertise in training and facilitation and has worked with many organisations in the third sector, including HFT, Guide Dogs, St Peter’s Hospice, ROC and numerous housing associations. She has been a member of the Cintre Board of Trustees since 2008. Her work is guided by a passionate belief that the success of any organisation depends upon the full involvement and commitment of the people in it.
Kevin Chamberlain is an experienced coach, trainer and key note speaker. Once an art and drama teacher, he rapidly moved into management and finished corporate life as a UK sales training manager for a financial services company. He is qualified as a de Bono lateral thinking consultant, is qualified in group skills, and was published in the area of educational leadership in 2005. A speaker in great demand, at a recent seminar in London for 100 business leaders, the event sold out. Kevin believes that each of us has a creative core - an area of our lives where we often experience ourselves as suppressed and where our strongest potential lies.
Rosalyn Masters is a freelance learning and development consultant, providing learning facilitation, training and consultancy services since 2000. Her clients include the National School of Government, H M Revenue and Customs, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Ministry of Defence, Ofsted, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department for International Development. Internationally, clients include the Bulgarian Customs Administration, the Kosovo Ministry of Health, the Romanian Border Police, the Malta Ministry of Finance, the Hong Kong Civil Service Training and Development Institute, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Customs Administration.
Rosalyn has been working as a trainer for twenty years, and as a business consultant since 1996. She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development; the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Educational Assessors. She is also accredited to use the Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile. Her experience has been gained through working with a variety of clients and projects, as an independent consultant; and prior to that, principally with H M Customs, as an internal consultant and trainer.
Projects include the facilitation of events and the development of training strategy and policies; evaluation of training programmes; the design of the training delivery element of the Chartered Management Institute-awarded Diploma in Management and Leadership; provision of assistance and advice regarding the Investors in People standard; and project management skills transfer.
Rosalyn has provided training for trainers, managers, internal business consultants and teams, and she has expertise in training needs analysis, training design, training delivery and the evaluation of training. Her approach is facilitative, and encourages both participation and an invitation to challenge established ways of working and thinking.