About Clare

Supporting people with learning disabilities

 

My first 2 jobs after graduating were in residential homes for people with learning disabilities. The best education ever! I worked with people who found it hard to communicate. This can be frustrating for everyone, and there were many difficult days. This experience inspired me to move into advocacy - to address the power imbalances that I saw so often in residential care. 

 

At People First Dorset I was fortunate to work on many different projects, alongside colleagues and trustees with learning disabilities;
 

• Total Communication 

• Easy Read 

• Local Authority consultations

• Quality Checkers

• Speaking Up groups

• Learning disability awareness training - for the police, NHS staff, care providers and more

• Dorset Forum 

• Speak Up Make Music - more information here
   

Easy Read - as well as being a project in its own right - was the thread that ran through every single part of my work. Meeting notes, training plans, Quality Check reports, consultations and more. My work was regularly reviewed by our members, which enabled me to get better and better! I made information for many organisations - both local and national.

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Design

 

I started out by thinking: “What IS it that makes a page design look professional?”

This is a good place for anyone to start! There were no Easy Read courses in the early 2000s, so I looked for inspiration everywhere I went. There are many good "mainstream" graphic design courses and other resources online, and the principles of minimalist design are universal.

 

Easy Read has evolved to follow an accepted format, but I still love to draw, experiment, and push the boundaries from time-to-time. The guiding force must always be the reader, and what is useful to them.

 

Business and management 

 

In the run-up to 2016 I became more and more interested in organisations as systems of people who “get things done”. I wanted to know why some organisations function well, and why others don’t.

I also saw a gap in business skills in the charity sector - a charity is a business, after all - and a strong business cannot run on goodwill alone. I enrolled on an MBA with The Open University, signing up for modules in strategy, finance, creativity, entrepreneurship, HR and more. I was very lucky to be working alongside a fantastic staff team at Dorset Advocacy whilst studying alongside. During the course I met a student who had some Easy Read work that he did not want (what are the chances??), and my side-hustle was born. 

 

In June 2023, my side-hustle became my full-time job, and I couldn't be happier! 

 

And apart from all that…

I live in a beautiful part of the world - Dorset, on the south coast of England. I love to go out running, walking and paddle-boarding near my home, which is on a dairy farm.

At the weekends I often play in ceilidh bands, for weddings and other functions. Violin playing is a lifelong passion, especially Irish fiddle, which has been my preferred style since about 1999. My husband also plays, (we met each other in a session at a folk festival!), and my son plays drums for ceilidhs too - so we are a creative family, which makes me feel very proud!