Board

Ann Frye is an international specialist in the area of mobility of disabled and older people.

Ann advises national Governments around the world and has worked with the United Nations, The European Commission, and the International Transport Forum. Ann has worked in this field for over 30 years; until 2006 she headed the Department for Transport’s Mobility & Inclusion Unit where she took the lead on research, legislation, and policy to promote the mobility of disabled people.

Ann devised and operated the The Mobility Roadshow and set up the Government’s own Mobility Centre and the funding programme for similar centres around the country.

I commenced training as an ADI shortly after my 21^st birthday and completed it before my 22^nd. I then worked for Hertfordshire Action on Disability (HAD) as a Driving Advisor for 10 years, during which time I played an important role in developing the service and in establishing satellite centres in Dunstable, Yiewsley and Watford.

In 2017 I successfully applied for the vacancy of Driving Centre Manager at HAD and I have recently been promoted to the role CEO of the company. Having worked in the driving, mobility and charity sector for more than 10 years, I hope my knowledge as an Assessor – as well as my experience of being a Manager – will enable me to make good decisions as a Board member of Driving Mobility.

My name is Sian and I am currently employed as the Office Manager for South East DriveAbility based in Maidstone. I have worked for the service since 2018 through which time I have faced a great deal of challenges, especially through a particularly turbulent time for the NHS as well as Driving Mobility centres. I relish new opportunities and I look proud to be a part of the growth and future of Driving Mobility.

Edward has been the respected and valued CEO of Driving Mobility since 2017. Prior to this most recent appointment, Edward worked at Cornwall Mobility as the Chief Executive.

Edward has experienced a diverse career working in the nuclear, pharmaceutical and software industries, focussed on technology and communications, which culminated in international directorship at Oxford Brookes University. He also has in-depth experience of the charity sector having served as a volunteer in various charities as a Trustee and as Chair. He also served as a Chief Executive of a trade association. This rich background has empowered Edward to deliver real value to the charity, its personnel and service users – particularly with top level strategies and effective institutional relationships.

Since his appointment in 2017, Edward has thrived in the role, his passion is fulfilled everyday as Driving Mobility gives back to the community through the enablement of people with a disability. His proven leadership skills have synergised with the ‘phenomenal team we have nationwide’ as he puts it – together delivering real change in terms of inclusion and independence.

Dean has been an Approved Driving Instructor for over twenty years and established his driving school in 2007 where he now manages a team of ADIs. He was recruited as a Driving Adviser for the Wales Mobility and Driving Assessment service in 2018 and also worked part-time as an administrator in order to acquire knowledge in this sector.

He successfully completed the Oxford Brookes University course in September 2022 and is now a full-time member of the team at WMDAS where he is passionate about helping others.

Outside of work Dean enjoys family time, playing golf (with limited success!) and watching sport. He is looking forward to becoming a board member of Driving Mobility and deepening his understanding of the decision-making processes involved.

Yvette qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 1989. She worked in many areas including care of the elderly, stroke rehabilitation and neuro-rehabilitation before joining East Anglian DriveAbility in 2006. Since joining the organisation, Yvette has been committed to improving services and the client experience –  ensuring that DriveAbility are always challenging what they do to ensure best practice.

Yvette has previously been Chair of the Driving Mobility Board and is CEO of East Anglian DriveAbility. As a passionate and dedicated individual, Yvette maintains a keen interest in cognition and neuro conditions whilst enjoying the educational side of service awareness.

David is an experienced Manager with a record of achievement in general management, strategic formulation, project and financial management gained in both the Third Sector and Manufacturing Industry.

Before moving to the Third Sector David’s career was in the design and manufacturing of electronic equipment where he developed a personal interest in how technology could be used to assist day to day living.

After changing career in 2000 David joined Arthritis Care as the Regional Manager for North England and developed his skills in contract negotiation and Branch development within the Third Sector.

Now as General Manager for the William Merritt Centre David was influential in moving the Centre from the NHS to be an independent Charity and Social Enterprise, in 2013. In 2017 he was also responsible for overseeing the move to their new premises in Rodley, Leeds.

With his personal experience and career knowledge he is able to provide informed leadership to assist the team in providing an extensive range of assistive living services.

David has contributed to changes in Health Care provision across the region, initially working with PCT’s to develop initiatives to implement the original White paper – Our Health Our Care our Say and more recently working with colleagues to develop Local Care Partnership links.

David is passionate about independent living and works closely with Leeds University as a Patient Mentor sharing lived experience to inform future NHS Doctors what it is like living with a long-term condition.

Barry is an experienced Occupational Therapist who has worked in field of Driving Assessment for over 22 years. He also has previous experience of work in neurological rehabilitation, stroke and mental health. During his time in driving assessment, he has contributed to the University of Chester Education Programme, Expert Pannel and the POTARE project.

Barry has a long-standing interest in research and has completed a Master of Science degree in Health and Social Care and a Professional Doctorate, exploring the effects of dementia upon safe driving. He has been a member of the NHS North West Research Ethics panel as an expert member and is currently part of the NHS Trust Research steering group.

He has worked as a lecturer on the undergraduate Occupational Therapy course at the University of Salford and also as a Practice Education Lecturer in Nursing and Midwifery at Edgehill University. Here he was also research lead for the Practice Education department.

He is currently engaged in a National Institute of Health and Social Care Research internship initiative with a research project examining the experience of driving cessation for people in socially deprived areas in the North West of England.

Barry has worked as Team Leader at Drive Ability North West since December 2023 and in this time has aimed to further develop services for the particular needs of people in the North West.

Leanne joined Cornwall Mobility in 2021 and is their  Business Development Manager.

She started her career working in Local Government and went from working in law to spending 8 years in Human Resources.

In 2002, following a suspected sprained ankle, tests showed that Leanne had Cancer. Despite several amputations, treatments and challenges, Leanne made the decision to turn every negative into a positive.

Leanne is a published author and has a fully inclusive fitness DVD that still sells worldwide and she’s appeared on television, radio and in newspapers and magazines.

Leanne is thrilled to be joining Driving Mobility – ‘I’ve always perused ventures I believe in and having a disability myself, being the Client, having been through the assessment process, I feel I’m in the unique position of seeing this business from all sides and making a difference’.

Natascha is Chief Officer at South East Dorset Community Accessible Transport a Charity that provides transport services to the most vulnerable community members to combat social isolation and loneliness and promote independent living. Natascha made the brave move to the UK from South Africa in 2020 having worked for many years in South Africa within the disability space working together with corporate companies to develop initiatives to support the most impoverished disabled community members to up skill them and support them in setting up their own micro enterprises.

Natascha is delighted to continue her journey within a sector that makes a difference in the community and is delighted to be joining the Driving Mobility Board of Trustees where she hopes to share her vast knowledge acquired within the UK transport and Charity Sector.

I am an Occupational Therapist / Clinical Assessor at Derby DrivAbility.

I qualified in 2003 from Derby University and have since undertaken further post graduate training obtaining a PGCert in Occupational Therapy

Prior to joining the team at Derby I spent 16 years working on acute hospital wards where I was the Specialist OT for the inpatient amputee service. This frequently involved covering the high dependency units and supporting of colleagues from different specialties who may not be confident assessing and discharge planning this patient group.

Although I have only been at Derby a short time I particularly enjoy supporting and enabling our clients in the process of returning to driving or being able to go out with their families again. At Derby we work closely with our armed forces, and I love nothing more than being able to give something back those that sacrifice so much for us to allow them to now move forward onto the next stage in their recovery journey.

Out of work I enjoy taking my lovely dog out for a walk, and as an avid rugby fan I have a season ticket for Leicester Tigers so you find me most weekends cheering them on.

After time working as a PA for various companies in the City of London and the North East of England, I joined Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust, in 2000.  Although a big cultural change from the world of private enterprise, I enjoyed 14 years working with the Northumberland and North Tyneside Crisis Mental Health Team as Team Secretary, Medical Secretary and later as Pathway Co-ordinator to the newly formed Initial Response Team, a 24/7 mental health crisis line service.  Having seen first hand the amazing work crisis mental health teams do, I enjoyed the variety of work and in particular, the interaction with clinicians and service users.

Staying within CNTW NHS Foundation Trust, 2017 saw me move to a managerial role at Walkergate Park Hospital, part of the Neurorehabilitation and Specialist Services Clinical Business Unit in Newcastle upon Tyne, managing admin staff to 23 different services over 10 sites.  A couple of years later, the Hubs Transport Service pilot was rolled out.  The prospect of being able to again work directly with service users (something I’d missed) while creating a brand new service, really appealed and I was delighted to be appointed to the role.

Fast forward to November 2022 and I’ve been trusted with the Mobility Team Manager role of North East Drive Mobility.  It’s been a steep learning curve and one that I’m still climbing, helped by a very knowledgeable Clinical Lead, and an amazingly skilled, hardworking team! I’m sure my time with the Driving Mobility Board will also be a big learning experience, but hopefully one where I can bring a different perspective with a fresh pair of eyes!

Prior to working in the driver training industry, Andrew was completing his higher education which included an HND in Business and finance and Degree in Business Administration.  He worked in the retail sector while studying and intended to pursue a career in retail management until the company he worked for was bought over and made redundancies.

Andrew qualified as a driving instructor in 2003 and started his own driving school, which is still running.  A year later, in March 2004 he started working with Disability Action’s driving school.  He very quickly developed a passion for helping disabled drivers and went on to train in the area of medical fitness to drive assessments.  He is now the lead driving assessor at Disability action and is studying towards a Masters, through Chester University.