Suzi joined the nurtureuk Marketing & Communications team as Senior Membership Officer in 2022. She is responsible for developing and delivering the charity’s membership offering.  Her broad marketing background was gained across a variety of corporate, educational and membership organisation roles, including working with membership organisations in the USA and Australia.

Suzi is passionate about children’s mental health and wellbeing and every child’s right to be supported in reaching their full potential. She is excited about being able to help make a difference to young people’s lives through her role with nurtureuk.

Suzi lives in the North West with her husband, two children and four cats! She runs an air bnb and enjoys an eclectic mix of hobbies, including photography, coastal walks and most recently learning to grow her own fruit and veggies!

Laura joined nurtureuk as Programme Coordinator for the Nurturing Kent Programme – a project commissioned by Kent County Council to deliver a 3-year county-wide programme across 300 mainstream primary and secondary schools. Laura’s role involves supporting schools on their journey to implementing a nurturing approach.

Based in Derbyshire, Laura’s background is primarily in early years education and customer service. Working as an Early Years Practitioner for over 10 years, she experienced first-hand how identifying and supporting individual children’s needs can have a substantial impact on not just their learning, but also their mental health and wellbeing. She believes that every child deserves the opportunity to learn and grow in a nurturing environment, regardless of their background, which is why she is immensely proud to be part of the nurtureuk team, helping to improve the life chances of children and young people.

Outside of work, Laura is an avid Formula 1 fan. She also loves live music, particularly attending music festivals and watching musical theatre shows in the West End.

Jenni originally began her career in Education as a Secondary Science teacher specialising in behaviourally challenging groups. She stayed within this area for 10 years, before expanding her skillset by becoming an outdoors instructor and working with adult, children and corporate groups to promote wellbeing.

Although she originally qualified in Secondary Education, her work here was largely in the primary sector since 2015, and she has held roles ranging from Class Teacher, Key Stage Coordinator, Regional Coordinator, Assistant Director of Science, Initial Teacher Training Mentor and Lead Outdoor Learning Instructor.

As well as delivering a wide range of subjects, Jenni developed a specialism in wellbeing and through discussion joined as an Associate Consultant Trainer at our 2018 Summer School, delivering a workshop on curriculum engagement; this led to a 4 year involvement in both nurture and nurtureuk, eventually being appointed to the Kent project in 2022.

What does nurture mean to you?

Supporting everyone to be able to achieve their potential no matter where they start.

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

The flexibility to be able to work with settings from all over the country and hear how you have helped improve lives.

Laura is nurtureuk’s head of marketing and communications and is responsible for the charity’s external relations.

Before joining nurtureuk, Laura led communications for the charity Adoption UK. Prior to that she worked in journalism.

Laura lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two young children. She is passionate about ensuring children and families have the right foundations to thrive.

Outside of work, Laura spends lots of time with her lovely family – but on the rare moment she’s alone she loves nothing better than curling up with a good book.

Wendy is nurtureuk‘s National Training Development and Innovation Manager.

Wendy has a long career in teaching and in developing and supporting nurture groups. She joined nurtureuk Board of Management in 2010, stepping down when she was appointed National Training Officer in 2012.

As a Special Educational Needs co-ordinator and Social Inclusion coordinator in a secondary school she was responsible for developing and managing provision for pupils with a wide range of additional needs. It was during this time and through links with the first primary nurture group in Cumbria that she realised the potential of nurture groups.

Working as a Behaviour and Attendance Improvement Programme coordinator involved working with schools to develop innovative approaches targeted towards addressing some of the ‘barriers to learning’ experienced by children and young people. Aiming to raise aspirations and ‘narrow the gap’ to secure active engagement and positive outcomes. As part of this programme a number of schools developed nurture groups. She coordinated networking and professional development opportunities including an annual nurture group conference in Cumbria.

Her commitment to nurture groups is from experience in seeing the positive outcomes for children, young people, parents and carers and schools.

What does nurture mean to you?

Nurture is about capitalising on strengths and addressing barriers to learning in a holistic manner. The individual being kept in mind. Remembering nurture has to be nurtured and that it is a marathon not a sprint!

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

I enjoy working in an organisation and with colleagues providing tools, training and support to practitioners, education settings, organisations and policy makers.

Over the past 20+ years, Victoria has built an extensive skillset in Primary Education, alongside her ‘past life’ as a Sales and Marketing professional.

Although she originally qualified in Secondary Education, her background is largely Primary. She has worked in the primary sector since 1999, and has held roles ranging from class teacher, subject leader, SLT member and Headteacher.

As well as delivering key subjects, Victoria developed a specialism in Health Education and Relationships Education. To develop her knowledge in this area, she undertook the 3-day Theory and Practice of Nurture Groups training; this led to a 15 year involvement with both nurture and nurtureuk.

What does nurture mean to you?

Looking at the whole child, in the context of the classroom and class, taking into account missing early nurturing experiences (from the results of the Boxall Profile® assessment) and giving them and their peers the social and emotional skills to do well at school with learning that is appropriate for them, developing their resilience, self-confidence and for them to succeed and be proud of their achievements.

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

The opportunity to share this knowledge for the benefit of all children and young people, so that they can progress and become good citizens and be successful members of society at what ever level is appropriate for them.

Tom is nurtureuk‘s Director of Products, Services and Impact, based in London, and leads on operations, including the work of the consultancy and training teams.

Before joining nurtureuk, Tom worked as a director at The Key, helping its online information and guidance services for leaders and governors reach over half the schools in England. He’s worked in the not-for-profit sector for environmental and education charities, running education programmes, influencing government policy and developing volunteering opportunities for young people. He’s passionate about education and is committed to creating a nurturing environment for every child in every school.

Tom has a first degree in engineering and management, and a masters in public policy, and is a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Outside work, he enjoys walking in the woods and spending as much time as possible with his young son.

What does nurture mean to you?

Nurture is about truly valuing people, and helping them to feel valued. It’s about applying the six principles to help people to realise their potential.

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

We’re a warm and friendly team, and we love our work. It’s a privilege to be able to work so closely with schools, and to develop products and services that help educators to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

Shirley joined the team in 2018 and she is nurtureuk‘s Products Officer.

She is co-ordinating delivery of our services from our Paisley office.

What does nurture mean to you?

To me nurture means to support and encourage to reach their full potential.

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

I enjoy the nurturing work environment and I love contributing to the work we do to support children and young people. Knowing that I am making a difference to some of the most vulnerable in our society gives me great job satisfaction.

Melisa joined the nurtureuk team in 2014 and is based in the West of Scotland. After completing her BA Degree in Business Information Management she then went on to work as an Administrative/Office manager within a commercial diving school.

After joining the nurtureuk team Melisa’s role has changed and adapted over the years and she has just finished editing her first publication for the charity.

Melisa has two young children and is passionate about making sure all children receive the best start in life and is offered the help and support they need to thrive.

In her spare time she is kept on her toes with two toddlers and is thrilled to have someone to enjoy her Disney passion with. She has a slight obsession with planning and stationery, if there is a list to be made she will be on the case!

What does nurture mean to you?

Having two young children nurturing values mean so much to me. I want to ensure they are nurtured in every way. While doing this it makes me want to make sure everyone is nurtured and to allow them to become the best that they can do. I am so thrilled to be part of a company who values nurture and works to ensure that all children are nurtured into adulthood.

What do you enjoy about working at nurtureuk?

I love everything about nurtureuk, I am passionate about their vision and mission statement. The team is absolutely fantastic and great to work with. I can’t imagine working with a better company.

Jonathan is a keen marketing enthusiast, with years of experience in both digital and traditional marketing and communications. 

Jonathan began his career working in sales in the luxury cruise industry. Since moving into marketing, his roles have focused on such areas as content creation, copywriting, website management, social media, email marketing, paid media and blogging. He has also done voluntary work for a charity in the education sector.

Jonathan attended the University of Portsmouth, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Media Studies.

Outside of work, he has a passion for travel. His other interests include photography, football, basketball and health/fitness.