Taith works with other consultants and companies who deliver on a subcontracted basis. These collaborative partnerships deliver a flexible package of options for clients who wish to benefit from the range of expertise and experience on offer. All the associates have experience of working together and providing solutions in a creative and responsive manner.

Associates
Appreciating People - Laraine Bruce - Julie Barnes - Dan Grant - Barrie Grant - Marilyn McCarron - Kathryn Rowett - Roger Rowett

Roger Rowett is the founder and Managing Director of Taith Ltd. Previously he has worked for a range of organisations within the voluntary, statutory and private sectors over a 30 year period. He worked as a Workforce Development Officer for the Care Council for Wales, an HMI for Estyn (Education and Training Inspectorate for Wales), and Professional Advisor for Children's Services within the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW). He still works as an AI (Additional Inspector) on an occasional basis for Estyn within adult community learning, work based training, and youth (YPP).

Roger originally qualified as a teacher, going on to work as a youth and community worker for the YMCA. He spent 10 years with the YMCA managing a number of projects including an advice and counselling centre for young people and a youth training scheme. During this time Roger was highly influenced by Carl Rogers and his concept of unconditional positive regard.

Roger's work experience has mostly centred on projects which support young people and vulnerable adults, this has included advocacy. Much of his work has been related to supporting people with a learning disability. This has included coordinating a county wide forum for service users, carers and voluntary organisations.

Roger has also worked for an Internet company and designed information management systems for a wide range of clients within local government in Wales, England and Scotland.

Roger's current work centres on organisational development and self assessment. He also undertakes independent reviews and investigations. Much of his recent work involves the use of Appreciative Inquiry. Roger has trained as an AI facilitator with Jane Magruder Watkins from the US and Mette Jacobsgaard and has recently had an article on AI published in Catlayst (Public Services Management Wales).

Roger is Married with two daughters and lives in North Wales. He has also studied Aikido for 25 years and enjoys table tennis, cycling and walking.

Tim and Suzanne are co-founders of Appreciating People. Established in May 2006 and based in Liverpool, UK. Appreciating People is a Management and Development Consultancy specialising in organisation development through working from a strength based approach and undertaking whole system change. At the core of the consultancy is the use of Appreciative Inquiry, Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT) and Participatory Appraisal (RPA).

They provide appreciative organisational development support and training to SMEs and to community organisations and social enterprises. They have recently delivered two master-classes to social enterprises in North West England - one on strategic planning and one on organisational learning, and are currently delivering two Connecting Communities programmes (for the community Development Foundation) , providing community leadership training to twelve neighbourhoods in the North West.

Tim has worked in youth work and regeneration for over 30 years, starting his professional career as a youth and community worker in a Nottinghamshire mining community. He has held a number of posts including Principal Youth Officer, Social Inclusion Manager, CEO for a New Deal for Communities project, senior manager for SRB and EC Objective1 programmes, and R&D director for a Groundwork Trust.

Co- founder of Appreciating People, Suzanne joined AP full time in August 2009. Prior to that she worked for Riverside Housing Association's Regeneration Department, developing a number of community investment projects, managing a social enterprise development project, and producing best practice profiles on a range of Supported Housing schemes. Her professional career spans 30 years working in international development, regeneration and the voluntary and community sector.

Laraine Bruce MBE - Laraine began her professional career, after obtaining an Honours Degree in Fine Art, followed by a post-graduate teaching qualification. This provided the foundation for the last 30 years of her work. Laraine believes that each person has a unique contribution to make and that the richness and variety of these contributions are to be celebrated and respected.

Following several years teaching, in a range of educational settings, Laraine moved to North Wales in 1978 and, in partnership with her husband, established a Study Centre for Art and the Countryside. The Centre provided opportunities for children and adults to experience life outside of traditional educational and care environments. This period cemented Laraine's view that unique solutions can be found by adopting creative and problem-solving approaches. During these years running the Centre, Laraine and her husband became foster parents. She also began her work with people with Learning Disabilities in various organisations within both the voluntary, private and statutory sectors.

More recently Laraine worked as an Inspector within the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (CSIW).

Throughout the last 30 years Laraine has acted as an independent advocate for young people, vulnerable adults and in support of families of people with Learning Disabilities. In 2001 she received an MBE for services to people with Learning Disabilities in Wales.

Laraine currently works as an independent consultant and trainer. Most of her training is in the field of Learning Disability and focuses on a Person Centred way of thinking and working.

Laraine is married with four adult children and lives in North Wales.

Julie Barnes is an independent practitioner with twenty five years experience of working in the public sector and social care. A graduate of Surrey University and the London School of Economics, she has worked in, and managed, research and performance review for Surrey and West Sussex Social Service Departments.

Between 1992 and 2002 she worked as an inspector for the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) in the Department of Health (DH), with specific responsibility for developing and implementing national standards and inspection methodologies across social care services for children, families and adult services.

Since then, she has worked as an independent consultant, undertaking research, evaluation, policy development and change management commissions for government departments, universities and other organisations in both England and Wales. She has recently worked for the National College of School Leadership and is currently leading work with the NHS in the East Midlands (Dementia Strategy); offering professional support to schools staff; and leading innovative work on strengths based approaches to safeguarding for children and adults.

Julie is a qualified personal Counsellor and Supervisor and runs her own private practice in Nottingham. She has been a volunteer counsellor at the Nottinghamshire Hospice working with people with terminal illness and bereavement and as a consultant advisor for VSO in Guyana, SA with children and families affected by HIV/Aids

She is a trained Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator offering appreciative consultancy to individuals, teams and organisations, particularly in the public sector. She is a key contributor to the developing Appreciative Inquiry Network in the UK and contributes to wider European and International AI networks. She is a Program Associate for the NTL Institute in the USA and recently guest edited (with Anne Radford) the international journal AI Practitioner for February 2009, on the theme of 'Working Boldly with Appreciative Inquiry'.

Barrie Grant has extensive experience as an educator and trainer in further, adult and community education spanning 34 years. This includes a 15 year period as Director of Teacher Training and Professional Development in a large FE college in North Wales which now has the best Estyn inspection grade profile in Wales.

Central to Barrie's approach is the belief that creativity, innovation, experimentation and reflection are at the heart of all effective learning, whether it be at individual, group or organisational levels. He engenders lively learning environments that foster active learning

Over the last few years Barrie has been working as an independent consultant and has completed the following work:

'First Steps to Community Development Learning - this experimental programme under the aegis of NIACE dysgu cymru is aimed at adults within the community who want to gain accreditation for work carried out on community activities and projects. The project involved consultation with experts in the field, guiding it through rigorous accreditation procedures, training the trainers and co-authoring a manual for trainers.

Additional Inspector with Estyn - this has included area inspections in Adult and Community Learning and Work-based training.

Supporting Change - this project involved running workshops for an FE college going through a period of organisational change and development

Creativity Workshops - run for CENTRA, a national training organisations, these workshops were aimed at encouraging trainers to access their creativity and take risks!

Barrie has two sons and a daughter of whom he is very proud. He has eclectic interests including: golf, hill-walking, amateur dramatics/operatics, gardening, motorcycling, bird-watching, listening to classical and jazz music, fishing etc…

Marilyn McCarron

Prior to taking early retirement in April 2005, Marilyn had 31 years of experience in the public sector at County Councils, a Unitary Authority and District Councils. She has had 15 years experience as a senior manager, the last five of which were at Chief Officer level. She has been called upon to speak at road shows and annual conferences of the Standards Board for England and the Association of Councils' Secretaries and Solicitors on matters of conduct. Marilyn is now an independent mediator and trainer and undertakes a variety of investigative work.

Key Career Achievements

• Direct responsibility for investigating major allegations of breaches of financial regulations and standing orders raised by the Audit Commission. The investigation led to Marilyn producing a Monitoring Officer's report which recommended a major restructure in the authority concerned resulting in financial savings and a much higher level of probity
• Developed Oswestry Borough Council's Constitution and associated Rules, Procedures and Protocols in order to adhere to the government's modernisation agenda. Marilyn trained both officers and members prior to the development of the Constitution and following its adoption so as to ensure a thorough understanding and appreciation of the necessary changes to the political decision making process. She also developed and managed a fair and balanced public consultation process
• Developed and led a members' modernisation working group to address the government's modernisation agenda which resulted in a sense of "ownership" amongst the politicians and a much improved working relationship between officers and members
• Investigated and represented a council in a high profile child sex abuse case which attracted the attention of the press, television and radio. Thirteen children were taken into care with a view to adoption as a result.
• Initiated and introduced a new corporate complaints procedure which resulted in a structured and streamlined approach to the handling of complaints across the authority concerned. The local community now has a well managed mechanism for reporting complaints and improvements to services are reported on a regular basis through the Bulletins and Newsletters also introduced by Marilyn which appear on the council's website
• Designed and introduced a "Members' Handbook" which together with Marilyn's innovative methods of training ensures that new and existing members are fully equipped to carry out their various roles both within the community and the council.

Consultancy Assignments

Marilyn has carried out numerous investigations into allegations regarding councillors' breaches of the Code of Conduct and has designed and presented training sessions, including mock hearings for many councils. She has undertaken mediation and team building for senior managers at District and Unitary councils and has chaired an appeal at Director level for the Countryside Council for Wales. Marilyn has also recently provided cover for the Head of Legal and Democratic Services at a Shropshire authority.

Educational and Professional Qualifications

Solicitors' Finals (Commendation), The College of Law Christleton, 1984 Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, Chester College and Correspondence course, 1986

Marilyn is married with one daughter and her hobbies are amateur dramatics, walking, cycling and reading.

Dan Grant is an experienced trainer and consultant in social work, education and training and criminal justice. This has included designing and implementing a multi-agency partnership quality assurance framework on behalf of Greenwich Children's Services. A feasibility study for the implementation of circles of support and accountability in the north of England. Inspection advice to schools, colleges and work based learning providers on quality, performance and self evaluation.

Dan is a risk assessor for prisons and probation. This involves application of the following structured professional judgement tools to the assessment of dangerousness and risk presented by violent offenders: PCL-R, HCR-20, SAM, SARA B-safer and Thornton's Risk Matrix 2000-07.

Dan is also a registered inspector of education and training for Ofsted and Estyn. This involves regular inspections of colleges, work based training for adults and Job Centre Plus programmes.

As a part-time senior lecturer in criminology in higher education, Dan teaches a combined unit for psychology and criminology undergraduates in clinical criminology.

Dan is an independent international social work consultant and trainer. This is occasional work when required. His last commission was to assess for an inter-country fostering arrangement. He is registered with the British Association of Social Workers and as an expert witness.

He is a reviewer of book proposals for Taylor Francis (Routeledge) international publisher of professional texts.

Dan is Chief Executive of New Leaf Trust. This is a new project in partnership with the University of Hull delivering Circles of Support and Accountability. What is unique about the Circles operated by New Leaf Trust is that they begin involvement with sex offenders using a thorough review of existing risk assessment and management information and then apply relevant structured professional judgement tools considered necessary.

In addition, Dan is Managing Director of Brain Box Health and Social Care. This is a new community interest company providing support, information and mentoring to 14-16 year old vocational learners in health and social care. The project is unique and is subject to intellectual property and brand patenting legislation.

Kathryn Rowett works as an image consultant, assisting people to feel more confident about themselves and ready for the next stage of their journey!

Kathryn worked for the Civil Service for 10 years; this included local government and the private sector as a tax advisor. In the year 2000 she needed a change and went for a colour analysis which changed her life. Later she decided to set up her own business to share her experience and knowledge, so other people could transform their lives too!

Kathryn makes the most of your personal or work image by analysing colour and style. This makes the most of your body shape by creating your own 'style personality'.

Kathryn has worked one to one, and in groups, to produce life changing experiences. People feel confident about how they look, and get the image they want, plus that all important 'feel good factor' about themselves.

Kathryn has been an image consultant for 7 years, and loves the interaction with people, pointing out all the great qualities they have, and how to make the most of them, transforming their confidence for life.

Kathryn says - 'The right work image results in increased confidence, and improves your prospects. Rightly or wrongly people make a judgement about you within the first few seconds of meeting you purely on how you look'.

To see full details of Kathryn's services click here.

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