Aidan Pollitt – Chair
Aidan Pollitt is an experienced and creative social care practitioner and business development leader with specialist knowledge in operational management, training, human resources and service design, having worked within adults’ and children’s social care organisations for almost 35 years. His career spans operational social care provision, management and training and since 2014 he has worked as an independent Care Act trainer and business consultant to residential childcare homes.
More recently he has been contributing to social care services through provision of social care business consultancy and through higher level legal training for social care and health commissioners, assessors and providers for the Social Care Institute for Excellence specialising in current legislation including the Care Act 2014, The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and other relevant Health Service legislation. He has a particular interest in delivering safeguarding training, and acts part time as an Independent Mental Health Advocate on behalf of Healthwatch Halton.
Aidan has welcomed the opportunity to support CASCAIDr. He is dedicated to solutions that focus on personalised health and social care outcomes for people. He’s a great fit for our organisation because he believes that good communication, creative commissioning and sharp administration, coupled with a diligent attention to people’s rights and public bodies’ legal obligations are cornerstones to the delivery of a high standard of social and health care services practice and governance.
Alice Diver
Alice Diver is a Senior Lecturer in Law with LJMU, Liverpool. Originally from Quebec, she moved to N Ireland in 1979 and has worked as a lecturer in law since 1993 (NWRC, Ulster University).
Alice has published widely on legal issues relating to human rights law and social justice. Prior to entering academia she practised as a solicitor (Conveyancing and Probate) in Northern Ireland for 4 years. She gained her PhD from Ulster University in 2012, and has served as a Board member/Trustee for a number of charitable organisations in Northern Ireland since 2010, in the fields of social housing and kinship care.
Antony Thorn
Antony is an Operations Manager and Director who has worked in the private, voluntary/charitable sector and Local Government for the last 20 years. He has a thorough knowledge of social enterprise, community development, developing Social Capital, Time Banking, Independent Support Planning, Direct Payments and Brokerage.
Currently he is the Director of Operations for a medium sized (circa £7m turnover) Domiciliary Care Agency – managing all aspects of the business, including Human Resources, contract management, negotiation, growth, development and strategy. He is an experienced Local Government/NHS Strategic Commissioner/ Manager and has led procurement exercises valued at over £11m, redesigning Care at Home services, Information and Advice, and Direct Payments Support services.
Training is also a passion for Antony and he has trained many local authorities in the Care Act 2014, specialising in Adult Social Care Commissioning and Direct Payments. He also trains providers and carers in Person Centred Approaches.
Antony has developed user-led organisations from initial vision, through consultation, to delivery. He has managed user-led services in the voluntary sector, and is currently sitting on the board for the user-led co-operative the Oxfordshire Wheel.
Most of his working life has been in the public and charitable sectors; however, everything he has ever done has followed the philosophy and belief of empowerment, innovation, equal opportunities and hard work.
If you have a proactive approach to Trusteeship and some valuable skills or expertise, and would like to offer your services to CASCAIDr, please get in touch with us at trustees@cascaidr.org.uk