Fiona
Fiona has worked for the NHS Trust for 14 years as an Employment Specialist in Newham for CRT North. The role of the post focuses on assisting adults with severe and enduring mental health issues into employment using the IPS model. Before joining the trust, she had over 13 years’ experience as a teacher and facilitator working with offenders, community groups, young people and schools. She managed a multimedia project targeted at young people who are not engaged in education employment and training and facilitated the design of a website, posters and a magazine on young people’s issues.
Fiona was also the LGBTQ network lead for Newham, where she organised a photography exhibition as part of LGBTQ history month in Newham. This was a series of images and text about people from ethnic minorities coming out. She organised an evening film show, showcasing the film Moonlight to service users at Newham Centre for Mental Health. Her wife is Indian and she is very passionate about diversity.
Fiona attended the Stonewall LGBTQ Leadership Development Programme and is also part of the Stonewall Alumni Programme. Since lockdown Fiona has started Coffee Connection – a random process to encourage the LGBTQ Network to get to know each other in pairs and share stories and challenges. She was also instrumental in organising a webinar with Dr Michael Brady, National Advisor for LGBT Health at NHS England, to discuss the issues relating to LGBT communities and the impact of Covid.