Jenny McLeish (Research Advisor)
After many years working in the voluntary sector, Jenny is currently a Health Services Researcher at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit where she has been researching the impact on parents and volunteers of different models of pregnancy and postnatal peer support.
As an Associate of the Institute for Voluntary Action Research she carried out an evidence review of the impact of volunteers on early childhood outcomes, to support the development of the A Better Start programmes. She is also studying for a PhD evaluating the effectiveness of peer support for mothers with perinatal mental illness and the process of setting up new volunteer projects.
Charlotte Pace
Charlotte has a passion for working with people to create a learning space within which complex challenges are addressed. She has worked with a number of voluntary and public sector organisations, with a particular interest in facilitating strategic support and using action research as a tool to bring about culture change, as well as working to develop an understanding of the organisation’s social impact and social value.
Charlotte has worked with NHS and Local Government to explore and develop partnerships that work, including on the current national Building Health Partnerships programme.
Charlotte is a non-executive director of Strengths in Communities CIC which manages the Parents 1st Essex local programme and provides a range of national services to support successful peer support programmes.
Dulcie McBride
Dulcie has previously worked clinically as a doctor within the NHS in paediatrics, obstetrics and sexual health. As a specialist in Public Health, Dulcie has worked locally in commissioning of health services, nationally supporting delivery of an evidence-based parenting programme, and in academia researching the causes of health inequalities.
Dulcie has worked nationally on the implementation of an evidence-based intervention for vulnerable parents. During this time she became more interested in the theory and science of how to really make interventions work and what it takes to implement them well and sustainably. Since then, Dulcie has studied implementation science further and now works independently to design, implement and evaluate complex interventions across health, social care and the voluntary sector.
Dulcie is a non-executive director of Strengths in Communities CIC which manages the Parents 1st Essex local programme and provides a range of national services to support successful peer support programmes.