Trustees
Dr Nicola Grove
Chair of Trustees
Nicola Grove is a skilled storyteller, and has gathered stories and poems from around the world delivering them to new audiences with her consummate storytelling skills. A leading specialist in narrative intervention with children and adults with learning disabilities, she has been an English teacher, speech therapist, and has recently retired as Director of Openstorytellers.
Phil Madden
Trustee
Phil has worked with and for people with learning disabilities and their families since 1968, when he was a nursing assistant in one of the old long stay hospitals.
He trained as a social worker and worked in a variety of jobs in local government and in the charitable sector.
He is Vice President of EASPD(The European Association of Services for People with disabilities) and travels extensively in Europe .
He is also a Trustee of Learning Disability Wales.
He also writes-and being part of Openstorytellers is a way to combine both of these interests and commitments.
Jane Jones
Trustee
Jane Jones qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1967 and has had a career-long interest in working with people who have learning disabilities. She managed the Somerset Speech and Language Therapy service for Adults with Learning Disabilities from 1986 until she took early retirement in 2000. She founded and became Chief Executive of the Somerset Total Communication project- a strategy for ensuring a consistent and coherent approach to meeting communication needs of people with learning disabilities across the county. In 2000 she received the Honours of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) for her work.
Since her retirement she has worked as an independent communication consultant to different organisations such as the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities and HFT and has assisted local authorities in the setting up of county-wide communication strategies. She has carried out user consultations including two for the (then) Social Services Inspectorate following enquiries into abuse. She was a specialist advisor to the RCSLT and a member of the Government Valuing People Task Force for three years where she co-chaired a sub group to raise awareness about the fundamental importance of communication in achieving the aims of the VP white paper.
She is currently Communication champion for the British Institute of Learning Disabilities and Chair of the Trustees of Somerset Advocacy for people with learning disabilities.
Brian Marshall
Trustee
My name is Brian Marshall. I work for Openstorytellers and I’m an active member of Frome Story-Circle. I am a helpful person and I like working with people.
My hobbies are football, clothes shopping, going to the pub for karaoke and meeting new friends.
I live on my own in Frome and I like my own space. I also like my small garden.
Andrew Hardy
Trustee
Andrew has run a number of small businesses including a marketing agency, an import export agency and his current business (established 10 years ago) which comprises a management, tax and accountancy practice. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (C.A.S.A.) with UK practising rights. He has also been the financial controller of a small group of companies and financial manager / turnaround consultant for a firm of company doctors and business turnaround consultants based in London.
Rona Barbour
Trustee
Following on from a successful earlier career in top level recruitment and management training, Rona Barbour has worked independently as a Consultant Practitioner in Education for over 12 years, both in mainstream and supported learning, where she has worked with many students with aspects of their behaviour which have impacted on their education. She was subsequently recruited to set up and manage special Behavioural Support Units within several mainstream, and special needs schools, including Pupil Referral Units throughout the North West.
These units were particularly identified by the Government’s Healthy Schools Initiative team, as providing unique and excellent support for students with EBD and recruited her to set up “Womb Rooms” in 6 of their schools in Salford and Trafford Boroughs. Rona continues to work as a lead specialist in the North West providing support for schools and sixth forms to develop their own inclusive practices. Rona has also worked as a teaching and learning coach and mentor, and as an emotional therapist, particularly highlighting hugely successful tactics when working with disengaged and disenchanted students. Rona formed part of the management committee for the Society for Storytelling, England and Wales, for 6 years from 2004 until 2010.
Tracy Rose
Trustee
Tracy is a practicing Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) working with adults with learning disabilities. She specialises in supporting those people who can be challenging, people with autistic spectrum condition, and eating and drinking difficulties.
She worked as a Specialist SLT in London before moving to the South West, where she worked in Somerset (Mendip) and now BANES.
Tracy enjoys sharing stories. She lives on the edge of Bath and have a cat called Gatsby and a very large and naughty puppy called Charlie.
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