The express team
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Annette Williams (Director and Co-Founder)
Annette is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, FCCA. Annette has two children, her youngest child was diagnosed autistic at 15 months old, later with hypermobility, SPD and ADHD. Annette has experience as a parent governor at The Rise School. Tracey Gaggiotti (Director and Co-Founder)
Tracey's background is in Insurance. Tracey runs Social Skills Groups for young autistic people. Tracey has two children. Tracey is the sibling of an autistic brother with SLD. |
Our patron
John Williams is a writer and performer. He has an autistic son. In 2012 he created the award-winning blog and one man show called 'My Son's Not Rainman'. He has written for the BBC and featured on the Radio 4 Today Programme.
In John's own words:
"I became involved with express after meeting Annette and Tracey after one of my shows. I was immediately struck by their enthusiasm, dedication and commitment to making a real difference for those with autism and their families, both within their local community and further afield. I am delighted to be a Patron of express, and I'm really excited by the plans they have for the future. Every town up and down the land deserves to have an express, and with Annette and Tracey's boundless energy, one day it might just happen"
In John's own words:
"I became involved with express after meeting Annette and Tracey after one of my shows. I was immediately struck by their enthusiasm, dedication and commitment to making a real difference for those with autism and their families, both within their local community and further afield. I am delighted to be a Patron of express, and I'm really excited by the plans they have for the future. Every town up and down the land deserves to have an express, and with Annette and Tracey's boundless energy, one day it might just happen"
Our advisory panel
At express we have put together an Advisory Panel to consist of parents, both business and autism professionals and young autistic people to help take express forward. We want to ensure that we are consulting with the community that express will be supporting and using all expertise available.
The panel consists of parents of young autistic people across the spectrum and age ranges. We are also fortunate to have the experience of a young person with aspergers on our panel who grew up in Kingston and is truly inspiring.
Anna Abulafia
Anna's background is in public affairs and political communications, mostly in the charity sector. Her most recent role was working for an MP in Parliament. Anna is IPSEA trained to support with EHCPs and has a Masters in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy (Roehampton University). Anna is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Anna has two children, a daughter and a son. Her son was diagnosed autistic, aged 3.
Dierdre Ferrier
Deirdre’s background is in stakeholder communications management, most recently working in higher education and with local authorities. She has two primary aged children, both of whom were diagnosed with ASD aged 5.
Max Hamilton
Max has a diagnosis of Aspergers. He assists in running social skills groups for young autistic people. Max is very keen to support Express and be a voice for young people on the autistic spectrum.
Aisling Newton
Aisling’s background is in the film and visual effects industry where she was a producer for 10 years. After she had her first child she moved into PR for visual effects. She currently has her own business providing content and digital marketing for creative businesses. She has three children, one of whom has ASD, SLD and hypermobility.
Alis Rowe
Alis has Asperger’s Syndrome. She created The Curly Hair Project to help women and girls with Asperger’s Syndrome and their neurotypical loved ones communicate and understand each other through a stick cartoon figure, which appears on Facebook and in her books, posters and other visuals.
The panel consists of parents of young autistic people across the spectrum and age ranges. We are also fortunate to have the experience of a young person with aspergers on our panel who grew up in Kingston and is truly inspiring.
Anna Abulafia
Anna's background is in public affairs and political communications, mostly in the charity sector. Her most recent role was working for an MP in Parliament. Anna is IPSEA trained to support with EHCPs and has a Masters in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy (Roehampton University). Anna is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Anna has two children, a daughter and a son. Her son was diagnosed autistic, aged 3.
Dierdre Ferrier
Deirdre’s background is in stakeholder communications management, most recently working in higher education and with local authorities. She has two primary aged children, both of whom were diagnosed with ASD aged 5.
Max Hamilton
Max has a diagnosis of Aspergers. He assists in running social skills groups for young autistic people. Max is very keen to support Express and be a voice for young people on the autistic spectrum.
Aisling Newton
Aisling’s background is in the film and visual effects industry where she was a producer for 10 years. After she had her first child she moved into PR for visual effects. She currently has her own business providing content and digital marketing for creative businesses. She has three children, one of whom has ASD, SLD and hypermobility.
Alis Rowe
Alis has Asperger’s Syndrome. She created The Curly Hair Project to help women and girls with Asperger’s Syndrome and their neurotypical loved ones communicate and understand each other through a stick cartoon figure, which appears on Facebook and in her books, posters and other visuals.
Our advisors
We are consulting with autism professionals on an ongoing basis and will be working closely with a leading business mentoring programme.
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Kingston Voluntary Action (KVA) works to improve the quality of life for all of Kingston upon Thames’ communities by supporting voluntary and community action in the borough. KVA are passionate about helping voluntary and community organisations be informed, be supported, get connected and have a voice to make this happen. KVA offer direct support services, specialist advice, networks and forums, and high quality yet affordable training to organisations to become more effective, sustainable and influential.
