A tutor supports two Year 5 pupils with their Maths.

Meet our Business Operations and HR Team

The team that ensure our colleagues are supported and our office environments are warm and welcoming.

Jason Heaford

Chief Operating Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Jason Heaford

Chief Operating Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Jason joined Tutor Trust in 2014 after spending 15 years leading early years provisions within the Stockport area. Jason is a member of the Senior Management Team, and his main responsibilities now include leading Tutor Recruitment, HR, Safeguarding, and Business Operations teams.

Jason began his working life as a professional footballer, most notably with Derby County FC

Jason says: "Alongside working with like-minded people who are passionate, hardworking, and talented, I enjoy the fact that no two days are alike in carrying out my role - I have a very varied in-tray! Ultimately, playing a role in transforming lives through tutoring of so many young people provides me with the greatest satisfaction of all. Long may Tutor Trust continue to champion support to those who need it most!"     

Deborah ensures our offices run smoothly and are welcoming places to work. She has dark brown hair in a bun and is wearing a red jacket.

Deborah Reid

Office Manager
Deborah ensures our offices run smoothly and are welcoming places to work. She has dark brown hair in a bun and is wearing a red jacket.

Deborah Reid

Office Manager

Deborah joined the Tutor Trust team in January 2017 as a Finance Assistant with more than 20 years of experience in finance administration. In her previous role, as Credit Premium Unit Manager in the Manchester branch of an insurance company for 13 years, Deborah dealt with and developed all aspects of their Direct Debit collection and managed the team.  Moving away from the corporate insurance field, Deborah still wanted a role which could utilise her expertise in financial administration and office management.

Deborah says: "During my time at Tutor Trust, I have had various roles and seen the growth of the organisation, with the introduction of the Finance and Human Resources teams especially.  I feel that my administrative role is very much a part of the wider team providing great, and much needed, tuition for young people throughout Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Merseyside."

Sarah supports our staff team to thrive. She wears glasses, has short blonde hair and is wearing a blue dress.

Sarah Kern

HR Manager

Sarah joined the Tutor Trust in 2023 as HR Manager, after seven years in the coffee industry in various roles, most recently as HR Manager at an independent coffee company in Manchester. Prior to working in the coffee industry, Sarah worked across different sectors from financial institutions to publishing and events management. Sarah is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Law and is currently pursuing a CIPD Level 5 in Human Resource Management.

Sarah also volunteers as Chair of The Kore Directive, a community group set up to promote inclusivity and accessibility across the speciality coffee industry in the UK. Sarah has appeared as a keynote speaker on Employee Rights, Employer Responsibilities and participated in panel discussions around inclusion and accessibility. She has also participated as part of the advisory panel for Cup North.

Sarah says: “I have always worked in values-driven organisations, and when the chance arose to work on the Tutor Trust team, it was an easy decision to make.  Not only do I get to work with a team of motivated individuals who are driven to support young people to achieve their potential, but I get to help shape what we offer to new team members, and to help make this an even more attractive organisation to work in. 

“Tutor Trust is also informing my volunteer and presentation work outside of the organisation, especially our poverty and place research around social mobility and opportunity, which I have shared at an event for the coffee industry. I’m really enjoying my role at Tutor Trust and am excited at what the future holds.”

Lewis Howell

Risk Manager and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Lewis Howell

Risk Manager and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Lewis joined Tutor Trust in March 2014 as a Schools Coordinator and worked across both the Manchester and Leeds schools teams, including leading the original Leeds tuition pilot. In Spring 2022 Lewis moved across to the newly created role of Risk Manager covering various operational areas including Safeguarding, Health & Safety, and Data Protection. Lewis is also one of Tutor Trust's Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.

Before to joining the charity, Lewis had spent the previous two-and-a-half years working in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert. Lewis was the Field Project Manager at the Kalahari Meerkat Project for 18 months, a behavioural research project run by the University of Cambridge looking at the evolution of cooperative breeding in meerkats.  He was responsible for managing both the day-to-day research of the project and the team of international volunteers who collected the data. Prior to this, Lewis was one of the research volunteers for 12 months.   

Lewis graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2010, having studied Wildlife Conservation.  

Lewis says: “I have always enjoyed working at Tutor Trust. The mission is vital and necessary; we’re making a difference and we’re very good at what we do to boot! Just as importantly, I’m surrounded by people who care and help to create a wonderful working environment.”

Sam Hutchings

HR Administration Assistant

Sam Hutchings

HR Administration Assistant

Sam joined the Tutor Trust Team as HR Administration Assistant in May 2023. She studied Psychology at the University of Manchester and has tutored previously. 

Sam says:"Outside of Tutor Trust, I volunteer as a mentor with Brightside, a scheme supporting young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds in making decisions about further education and their careers. It is this experience that drew me to Tutor Trust; our mission is closely aligned with my own values. 

"As a first-generation university student, I strongly believe that everyone has a right to equal access to education and resources which allows them to reach their full potential, regardless of their background. Tutor Trust allows us to be one step closer to this."