Nick Bent Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Expand Nick has been involved with a number of educational and youth work charities for twenty years. He is a Director of the academies charity Oasis Community Learning and was previously Chair of Governors at the Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in Salford. During 2017, Nick was a Clore Social Leadership Fellow. An Associate of the think tank Demos, Nick spent seven years working in Westminster and Whitehall, including four years as a Special Adviser to Rt Hon Dame Tessa Jowell MP during the last Labour Government. He has also served as Director of the think tank Policy Network. From September 1st 2014, Nick has been appointed to serve a second three-year term as a lay member of the General Assembly of the University of Manchester. Nick is a graduate of the universities of Oxford (law) and Harvard (public policy).
Abigail Shapiro Co-Founder and Executive Director Expand Abigail has been involved with youth work and charities for many years. Her numerous roles in public affairs and media relations includes extensive experience of the education sector, through spending time working at both the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Pre-School Learning Alliance. Abigail's previous role as a freelance communications consultant has included work for GMPTE and Manchester City Council. An alumni of The University of Leeds, Abigail is a graduate of the prestigious Politics and Parliamentary Studies course. Abigail has also worked in Westminster and Washington DC. Abigail is a lay member of the General Assembly of the University of Manchester and a Governor at King David Primary School. Abigail has recently been appointed as a Trustee of Smart Works Greater Manchester.
Jason Heaford Chief Operating Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead Expand Jason has joined the Tutor Trust with many years’ experience of leading high quality early years provision. His most recent being a Social Enterprise based in Stockport. The setting received an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted Inspection late in 2013. In addition to his work as a Director there he also helped to create and develop the charity ‘ACCES’. In his role as CEO, Jason has helped ACCES in supporting disadvantaged families and children across the Stockport area. During this period Jason was invited to become one of the founding Trustees’ of Anchorpoint Stockport of which he served as a Trustee for 2 years. Anchorpoint followed Stockport’s CVS in providing a voice and support for ‘Third Sector ’organisations. Jason began his working life as a professional footballer most notably with Derby County FC, but had to retire through injury. He went on to work within the Transport Industry becoming the UK operations Manager for the large French company GCA. Providing new learning opportunities for children who could not afford tuition attracted Jason to The Tutor Trust and he hopes to continue and expand on the amazing work that has already taken place.
Matt Wallis Director of Training and Quality Assurance Expand Matt joined The Tutor Trust in summer 2016 with over 14 years of experience working in primary schools and teaching across the primary range. He has always worked in inner city areas in a range of roles, supporting the children and families who live there. He started teaching in Sheffield and spent two years there before moving to London and working in Hackney for two years. He then spent five years in East London working as an Assistant Headteacher responsible for supporting children with Special Educational Needs. This gave him the experience of supporting children and families to overcome barriers for learning which has remained a firm foundation for his ethos to learning and education. Relocating to Manchester in 2011, Matt started as a supply teacher in a large primary school in Moss Side and quickly moved to support the school’s senior leadership team as Assistant Headteacher for over 4 years. He was responsible for various areas such as English, KS2 and Inclusion and was proud to teach in a school that won the DfE’s Pupil Premium Award for the North West region for their work supporting disadvantaged pupils to achieve their potential. Matt is now the Director of Training and Quality Assurance for The Tutor Trust, overseeing the training and continual development of our tutors and the service they provide.
Jenny Muter Director of Tutor Recruitment and Impact Expand An experienced secondary teacher and middle leader, Jenny joined the Tutor Trust in September 2017, working alongside Matt to ensure that all tuition sessions are of the highest quality. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Jenny went into teaching through the TeachFirst programme, which fit with her commitment to improving educational opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She stayed in her initial placement school for five years, and undertook a variety of leadership roles, including Assistant Head of English, Head of Humanities, and leader of Key Stage 3 Assessment. She successfully completed the Teaching Leaders fellows programme for high potential educational leaders. Jenny is a keen traveler and has also previously taught in China, as well as having volunteered on educational projects in Belize, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Jo Meredith Director of Alternative Provision Expand Jo joined Tutor Trust in January 2019 as Quality Manager, responsible for our work in Alternative Provision. After graduating from Bangor University Jo began her career as a teacher of Chemistry. Jo has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership including Headship, with wide-ranging involvement in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings. Having worked in senior positions in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings across Greater Manchester, Jo is well placed to lead and drive the quality of teaching and learning in the Department for Education funded project in Alternative Provision, ‘The Right Angle’, in collaboration with TLC; Talk, Listen Change. Jo has now taken on the role of Director of Alternative Provision and will oversee this rapidly expanding area of the work of The Tutor Trust across all three cities.
Mark Wyss Liverpool Schools Partnership Manager Expand Mark joined Tutor Trust in January 2019 as Schools Partnership Manager. Mark has worked in secondary education for over 20 years, teaching Modern Foreign Languages, as well as spells of English, PE and ICT. He is an alumni of the Future Leaders Accelerate to Headship programme and has been a Senior Leader in the North West for nearly a decade. This includes leading Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy in Runcorn as Principal. Mark is now a North West Area Leader and Associate for the Partners in Excellence (PiXL) school improvement organisation, working with Headteachers and Senior Leadership Teams in over forty schools to raise aspirations and improve outcomes. Mark is deeply committed to enhancing the life chances of all young people, irrespective of circumstance or postcode. Mark is delighted and honoured to join The Tutor Trust Team and looks forward to driving their impact on the next leg of their amazing journey.
Lucy Farnan-Stone Secondary Quality Manager Expand Lucy joined us in January 2020. She has worked in several secondary schools across Merseyside, where she undertook numerous leadership roles including, Head of House, Mastery Coordinator and Lead Practitioner in Mathematics. During her time studying in Scotland, she joined the Saltire foundation where she had the opportunity to work for GE Oil and Gas. It was during her project teaching new recruits, that she realised her passion for teaching and leadership and later joined the Teach First programme working towards the mission of providing exceptional education for young students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Lewis Howell Leeds Lead Schools Coordinator and Office Manager Expand Lewis joined The Tutor Trust in March 2014, having spent the previous 2 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.
Steffani Wardell Liverpool Lead Schools Coordinator Expand Steff became a tutor in Leeds in 2017 while studying for her MA in Race and Resistance. Her interest in the work of The Tutor Trust came from her own experience of school and how she thought tuition from students in HE could have benefited her and her peers at school. Drawn to the charity’s desire to end educational inequality, the position of Liverpool Coordinator seemed perfect as she was hoping to return to her hometown after university and work in education.
Alice Taylor Manchester Primary Schools Coordinator Expand Alice joined The Tutor Trust in 2016 as a tutor, working throughout Greater Manchester for two years with multiple tuition assignments and a particularly keen interest in LAC assignments. As a recent graduate from the University of Manchester she joined the charity in a new role, Leeds Coordinator, 2018. From September 2019, Alice will be in her new role, Manchester Primary Schools Coordinator. Alice has always been interested in the education sector and The Tutor Trust marries her interest with social welfare and teaching.
Cara Simm Manchester Secondary Schools Coordinator Expand Cara first began working for The Tutor Trust in 2016 as a Primary Tutor whilst studying English Language for Education at The University of Manchester. She was delighted to join the office team in 2018 as Project Coordinator and is excited to continue her journey with us in her new role. Cara has always had a passion for education and after spending time in various schools across the North West she is delighted to continue working for an organisation that tackles educational inequality and really makes a difference to the lives of young people.
Rachel Bray Recruitment and Training Coordinator Expand Rachel was born and bred in Stockport and graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2016 with a degree in Education Studies. During her time studying, Rachel worked in a lot of schools in the area. She has always had a keen interest in education and working with children, and has completed over 10 years volunteering for Girl Guiding and Scouts. Having worked in schools throughout Manchester and seen the work that tutors do first hand, Rachel is passionate about The Tutor Trust ethos, and knew that it was something she would love to be a part of. She was delighted to join the team as Manchester Primary Schools Coordinator in February 2018. In July 2019 Rachel moved across to her current role, Recruitment and Impact Coordinator.
Emily Parkes Quality and Impact Coordinator Expand Emily joined the Tutor Trust as a tutor in Leeds in 2017. She has always had a strong interest in education and has worked with young people in a range of settings on behalf of other educational charities, including spending 12 months as a volunteer TEFL teacher in Malaysia. Emily feels passionate about the Tutor Trust’s goal to help tackle educational inequality. As Quality and Impact Coordinator, she is excited to be involved in ensuring the Tutor Trust provides a high standard of tuition which truly benefits those who need it.
Will Baldwin-Pask Regional Tutor Coordinator Expand Will became part of the Tutor Trust team in July 2018. He worked as an English tutor for us whilst studying at the University of Manchester. The time he spent working around the city as a tutor helped him decide to stay in Manchester after graduating with a First Class Honours and work for us as Manchester Tutor Coordinator. After having worked with us for a year, he will be coordinating in all three cities to help with the recruitment and quality of tutors, as well as maintaining our tutor network. Teaching people new skills and taking leadership roles was something Will did a lot as a teenager, regularly coaching young people in the sports of rugby and Taekwondo. He’s looking forward to building a strong tutor community in all three cities and meeting the new wave of quality young tutors that will join us over the academic year.
Penny Mitchell Alternative Provision Coordinator Expand Penny started as a Primary and Secondary English tutor in 2016 during her second year at University of Manchester. Since then she has enjoyed conducting tuition in numerous schools and across a range of ages, as well as advocating for The Tutor Trust at University. She has always been actively involved in roles and projects that help young people to develop their confidence and it was the core values of compassion and equality that initially drew her to the Charity. She is excited to continue to be a part of The Tutor Trust as a member of the office.
Alex Wood Schools Coordinator Expand Alex first joined the Tutor Trust as an English tutor in 2017. He tutored throughout his time at the University of Manchester whilst studying for his B.Sc. Psychology degree. Alex joined the Tutor Trust team in November 2019 as Schools Coordinator. During university, he volunteered, helping run a listening service that supported vulnerable people. Alex is excited to join the team and work with tutors to deliver fantastic tuition.
Deborah Reid Manchester Office Manager Expand Deborah joined the Tutor Trust team in January 2017. She has always lived and worked in Greater Manchester, knowing many of the schools we work with. Previously, she has worked in finance administration roles for over twenty years with her last position being Credit Premium Unit Manager in the Manchester branch of an insurance company for thirteen years. Her role involved dealing with and developing all aspects of their direct debit collections. Moving away from the corporate insurance field, Deborah still wanted a role which could utilise her expertise in financial administration and office management. She is very much enjoying assisting The Tutor Trust in its work with young people throughout Greater Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.
Rachel Douglas Finance Assistant Expand Rachel started at Tutor Trust in December 2019. Rachel knew she wanted a career in Finance after spending a couple of years working in a Foreign Exchange Bureau. This led to her getting a job as a trainee Finance Assistant in the private care sector whilst studying and completing her AAT; after years of hard work, she progressed to the role of Senior Finance Assistant in the company. New horizons and new challenges have brought Rachel to the Tutor Trust team and she is excited about this next chapter in her career.
Francis Emmott Alternative Provision Tutor Expand Francis became a tutor in January 2017 and has delivered hundreds of hours of tuition across Greater Manchester. He previously taught English as a Foreign Language in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and has travelled across Russia, Europe, and the United States. Having been through the care system himself, the opportunity to work with Looked After Children was what first attracted him to The Tutor Trust, and the experience has proven to be highly rewarding. Francis is now looking forward to working with children in Alternative Provision, helping them on their path back towards mainstream education.
Charley Hembrow Alternative Provision Tutor Expand Charley became part of The Tutor Trust team in January 2018. He worked as a Secondary Maths tutor in both Manchester and Liverpool for us whilst studying Mathematics and Economics at the University of Liverpool. After working with us for a year, he will be continuing tuition on the Alternate Provision programme, tutoring LAC pupils. Charley is hoping to help reduce educational inequality around schools in Manchester in his new position.
Cailum Finnegan Alternative Provision Tutor Expand Cailum joined the Tutor Trust in 2018 as a Secondary Tutor for Science and Mathematics following his completion of the PGCE at the University of Manchester. He took on the role of a part-time tutor whilst exploring musical pursuits to continue applying his skills and passion for education. Upon obtaining his Masters degree in Physics from the University of Manchester, Cailum decided to pursue a career in education. He went on to complete a PGCE in Secondary Science with teaching placements in the Greater Manchester area. Having completed over 200 hours of tuition for young people in Alternative Provision whilst working as a part-time tutor, Cailum has now undertaken the role of full-time Alternative Provision Tutor.