Chairperson

Beryl is the Chairperson for the Board of Trustees, she qualified as a solicitor in 1973 when living in Cardiff. She moved to Barnstaple in 2003 with her last post being legal services manager for North Devon Council. After retiring in 2011 Beryl has been a trustee of Encompass and has seen the charity grow and prosper as an organisation over the years, which is due to the dedication of the staff, vision of its chief officer and support of the Board of Trustees.

Duncan is a new member on the board of trustees, originally from the Bristol area he completed his secondary education and engineering apprenticeship in North Devon. Duncan is the Business Development Manager for a local manufacturing company and brings sales and marketing experience. With extensive UK and overseas travel providing cultural and geographical awareness.

Duncan has joined Encompass to support the local charity developing it's cause and support the service provision to help people gain the support and assistance that they need.

Trustee

Irene has been involved with Encompass Southwest since before 2001, when it was first registered as Barnstaple Poverty Action Group (BPAG).

Irene’s strengths, as a Trustee, lie in her roots, she was born in Barnstaple, and so is aware of the problems that lie within the town and its surrounds – the areas of deprivation, the lack of public transport for the rural areas, and the shortage of employment opportunities.

“I am a Trustee of other local organisations – North Devon Against Domestic Abuse, Pilton House Residential Home and Barnstaple Fair Carnival Committee, I also sit on Youth Offender panels, and am an Independent Advisor for the Police, sitting on the Violence Against Women and Children thematic group.”

Secretary

Liz has been an Encompass Southwest board member since 2016.

Her interest in Encompass's work stems from her career in public sector housing, and, in particular, in the field of homelessness and homelessness prevention. Liz's last job in housing was for Torridge District Council, based in Bideford, so she is aware of the local issues of poverty, rurality and a lack of social and affordable housing that can all combine to create significant problems for some people. During her time at the Council Liz worked in partnership with Encompass and is pleased to continue this collaboration as a Board member now that she is retired.
"Encompass is an innovative and very effective organisation and I am proud to be involved in its work."

Trustee

A recent addition to the board of Trustees, Moses career has been varied, starting out in the wine trade, specialising in Port and Champagne. At one point he found himself managing an Off-Licence in Brixton in the 1981 riots. Then moving onto running wine-bars and a small restaurant/hotel, which was exciting but in a different way. The majority of Moses working life, 28 years so far, has been in the NHS in a very wide variety of roles but more latterly as a Commissioner covering urgent and emergency care, ambulances and non-emergency ambulances, particularly in Northern Devon. Moses arrived in Barnstaple just before the Foot and Mouth outbreak, and 20 years later he is immersed in the Covid 19 outbreak. Moses has always set aside time to volunteer and for nine years was the independent Chair of the North Devon Social Care Fostering Panel. Having seen the excellent work that Encompass has delivered for the citizens of Devon in my NHS role I am looking forward to supporting the Trustees in delivering the organisation’s future.

I have lived in North Devon since 1977 and in Braunton for over 40 years. I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1981 and have been a partner in North Devon offices of Chartered Accountancy practices for many years.

For the final 13 years of my working life I had been on the board of the practice and finance partner of the practice for the final 3 years, in a practice which had 17 offices in the South West, in excess of 250 partners and employees and being in the top 50 practices in the country.

Prior to my retirement I headed up the Charity and Not for Profit special interest group. I have the Diploma in Charity Accounting and led several seminars and discussion groups on Charity matters In 2021 I retired from practice and have been enjoying my retirement with my family but maintain my interest in Encompass and I am very pleased to be a trustee of the Charity.

Operations Manager

Ben currently works on two projects, The Junction Project, and The Ripple Project, supporting young people and Care Leavers (respectively) to find improved living conditions. Ben joined Encompass in 2018 as part of The Junction and then took over the Ripple project, he is now also a park of the new @RISK project. Ben has over 10 years of experience supporting young people in various settings. In this time, he has achieved many relevant qualifications and has a BA Hons degree in Film which he is now using in his role in the @RISK media team.

“I am proud of my role with Encompass and happy to find a charitable organisation that deliver a service that respects each client as an individual.”

Recent Projects
@Risk Project, Ripple, Supported Accommodation – Barnstaple & Bideford

Chief Officer

Claire joined Encompass in 2011 having spent over 15 years working within the private sector as a contracts manager. Starting as an Advice Services Manager and working her way up to Chief officer in 2018, Claire has been influential in the development and growth of all our services, specifically the introduction of our new supported accommodation and the development of a number of existing and new partnerships.

“I am incredibly proud of the work Encompass delivers across Northern Devon, we have built a strong reputation locally based on trust, strong engagement with clients, confident service delivery and our ability to work in a trauma informed and psychologically informed way with all of our clients.

2020 has been like no other and I am looking forward to guiding the charity through what ever challenges come our way."

Recent Projects
Stories for Change, @Risk Project

Workplace Coach & Mentor

With 24 years’ experience of delivering and managing projects in the voluntary sector, Ian joined Encompass in 2013. For the first half of his career, Ian was involved with supporting children and young people in a variety of projects across the country, and he has been working within the field of housing and homelessness for the past 16 years here in Northern Devon. He is a firm believer in the values of a trauma informed approach to the delivery of our work and, since becoming operations manager in 2020, has helped embed our culture of support and supervision for everyone within Encompass.

Finance Manager

Louise joined Encompass in February 2010, shortly after viewing the BBC’s “Secret Millionaire” she took on the role of part time Administration Assistant. Bringing with her a wide stretching commercial and retail knowledge of sales, administration and accounts. Louise now sits on the senior management team as Finance and Office Manager.

Administrator

Nichola joined Encompass in 2020 as a volunteer, alongside studying Business Administration. She has over 20 years of experience working within the customer service sector and over 20 years’ experience of managing teams within the tourism industry. Since joining Encompass as a volunteer, she is now an employed member of staff, who’s main duties consist of supporting the smooth operation of the charity and promoting any volunteering positions that we have.

Flow Operations Manager.

During Nicola's time at Encompass, She has been involved in various projects, including; setting up, managing and delivering a ‘Rural Outreach’ project which aimed to address social and financial exclusion by delivering housing, money and debt advice across North Devon, this ran from 2009 to 2017.

Nicola is passionate about addressing social and financial exclusion and the inequalities that people across North Devon encounter and is very proud of how far Encompass Southwest have developed over recent years to help address these issues.

Recent Projects
Community Flow

I joined Encompass after leaving the Police force in 2023. My role as service lead involves me overseeing the day to day operations of all Encompass supported accommodation which is varied and different every day.

Recent Projects
Supported Accommodation – Barnstaple & Bideford

Accommodation Facilities and Maintenance Support

John joined Encompass a year ago at the very start of the COVID lock down. John has enjoyed a very mixed career including, serving in the Parachute Regiment, running his own Exhibition company, caring for others including the elderly, disabled and young adults who have acquired brain injured, as well as working at Petroc on the Princes Trust project helping young adult with confidence and life skills.
Currently John is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance for some of our supported accommodation across Northern Devon, which he has seen expand over his last 12 months with us.

Recent Projects
Supported Accommodation – Barnstaple & Bideford

Samir is a caseworker for the night shelter accommodation, supporting people who find themselves rough sleeping, homeless or at risk of homelessness into temporary accommodation with the aim of empowering them to transition onto more sustainable accommodation and ultimately into independence.

Accommodation Support Worker

Sophie joined Encompass in 2017 after discovering her passion for support work through volunteer work in the local community. Sophie began her time at Encompass working with young people at risk of homelessness, with the Junction Project. She joined the team at Encompass’s supported living in September last year. She now works across four different properties supporting clients, based on their individual needs using a trauma informed approach in order to prepare them for independent living.

“No two days in supported accommodation are the same! We pride ourselves on the relationships that we build with our clients and the trauma informed way that we work with each individual. Our aim is to empower people to make positive changes in their own lives”

Recent Projects
Supported Accommodation – Barnstaple & Bideford

Tim has been working in our all male high needs supported accommodation since he joined Encompass, his role focuses on supporting rough sleepers from the streets into our accommodation, helping occupants to settle into our accommodation whilst supporting them to find longer term sustainable accommodation.

Recent Projects
Supported Accommodation – Barnstaple & Bideford

Becky joined Encompass in 2016 and works as a support worker for our Torridge Rough Sleeper project. She has over 20 years experience working in the voluntary sector mainly with clients with mental health and drug and alcohol issues. ‘Having worked in this sector for many years I have a passion for supporting people that are marginalised by society. I have seen first-hand the transformational difference that the support from Encompass can have on someone’s life, and I feel proud to be part of this process.

Josie has a long history of working to support and empower individuals and communities through a variety of roles and projects.

She has worked as a Community Organiser and Facilitation trainer, and is passionate about listening to, and amplifying marginalised voices. As well as working on support and aid projects both locally and internationally, Josie is also a qualified Doula and Active Birth Teacher.

Josie started working with Encompass in August 2021 as a Night Support Worker within the Women First supported accommodation, and joined the Torridge Rough Sleeper Outreach team in October.

Recent Projects
Torridge Rough Sleeper

Paul joined Encompass at the start of 2022 and has worked on a variety of projects including our rough sleeper teams and most recently Housing First. Paul comes with a variety of experience which he is able to draw upon to support his clients. Paul also supports our weekly male drop in service in Barnstaple.

Housing First Support Worker

Stuart joined Encompass in 2019 and has worked across both our supported housing and more recently our housing first project, supporting complex rough sleepers from the streets into their own homes. Stuart takes great pride in seeing the transformation in his clients when they finally get their own front door.

Recent Projects
Housing First

Ripple Project, Youth Housing First and Safeguarding lead.

James joined Encompass in 2020 having worked within the local drug & alcohol service for the couple of years prior; including as a Recovery Worker; on a homeless project; and working on a rehabilitation and social enterprise in Dartmoor prison where he trained the men to design and make furniture. James’ background is in design but across his work life he has carried out youth work, homeless work, work in Special Needs Schools and worked for a charity tackling poverty around the world.

“I really enjoy my role, I work with young people with complex situations and help them to overcome the various barriers they face to gaining employment. It is hugely rewarding to see progress being made in their lives and often to see them taking their first steps into work”.

Recent Projects
Ripple

Youth Support Worker

Simon joined Encompass in 2011 and has been working on the Streetwise Project with Torridge District Council for nearly 10 years. Simon has a long history of supporting people throughout is career in various roles. As well as working with young people Simon is an avid Kite surfer and can often be found on Westward Ho! beach evenings and weekends.

Recent Projects
Streetwise

Specialist Money Adviser, Wis£rmoney

Anna is a Money and Debt Advice Caseworker for Wis£rmoney for the Transitions Project covering the Torridge area. Anna has worked in tenancy related support and the money and debt advice service for over 20 years. Developing a vast experience of dealing with benefit agencies, utility companies, creditors and landlords to support her clients who are facing financial difficulties.

Anna has a great passion for helping people and enjoys being part of improving peoples lives in a positive way. She supports and guides people to manage their money, debts and tenancies independently. The support she provides can help maximize income, clear debts, sustain tenancies and improve people’s mental health leading people to lead happier and less stressful lives allowing them to focus on other important parts of their lives.

“I love what I do and it’s so rewarding to stand back after I have helped someone and see them flourish, become more confident, debt free and use the skills they have picked up along the way quite often to help others. “

Recent Projects
Transitions

Maddi is an experienced debt and money adviser working part time on our BGET project as part of the Wis£rmoney partnership. Maddi has supported many clients to find sustainable financial solutions to their debt issues.

Alex joined us in January 2024 after relocating to North Devon from Wales. Alex is a trained actress and also has experience of working with a hospital environment from pervious roles she has held.

Andrew joined Encompass after a long service working for the Ambulance service in London. Andrew relocated to Devon and has been a member of the FLOW team working across various projects. His most recent project see’s him working with the Leg wellbeing team and North Devon Council Housing team.

I joined Encompass Southwest in April 2022, having previously worked for the NHS Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, both in the hospital and the community, supporting patients with their physical health and general wellbeing, for 22 years. During that time, I also worked for the hospital Safeguarding Team supporting inpatient staff with mental capacity and DOLs assessments.

Since joining Encompass I support two different projects; I am the Secondary Care FLOW Coordinator for the Pain Management Team at the hospital, supporting the patients with social aspects of their lives; connecting people with the local community, signposting to appropriate activities/support, sourcing funding for pieces of equipment to enable them to live independently, and on occasion acting as their advocate in a difficult situation.

I am also the Coordinator for the North Devon HOPE Programme, which is a 6 week self- management, peer support course for people who live with a long-term health conditions. These courses are specifically aimed at people who live with anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, stroke survivors, or many other LTHC.

Recent Projects
Secondary Care Flow

High Flow Caseworker

Katie has worked for Encompass since January 2020 after having worked in the Police since 2004. In 2016 Katie was lucky enough to have been asked to help set up a team that focused on understanding why people were committing crime & then seeked to place support in the right place to further prevent offences & to help improve their quality of life.
Katie still work collaboratively with Police, Mental Health Services , GP’s Surgeries , North Devon Council, Torridge District Council , Ambulance Service , North Devon Health Care Trust , Adult Social Care. Katie works 121 with referrals from all agencies on an intensive level & promote TAP Meetings ( Team Around the Person ) – a consent led proactive process Drawing on her own ACE’s (Adverse Childhood Experiences ) subsequent trauma & illness in adult life, Katie has lived experience of having to access services herself.
"I love my job & hold hope & aspirations for all my clients until they are ready to hold it for themselves & ‘ Fly Solo’ moving forward in their own journey of life."

Recent Projects
High Intensity Use Program

System Change Lead.

Nikki joined Encompass after working in Education. She has been working on our Community Flow project since the start and has recently taken on the role of community flow project manager which see’s taking on the day-to-day responsibilities of the project.

My name is Becky, I work for Encompass as a Community Mental Health Flow Navigator and next year I will be working as a High Intensity Use Support Worker. I have worked in Care Homes as a team leader where I was asked to part of a small team in a new Complex Care unit where we were trained to support people with expressive emotions, I have also been an Activity Coordinator and worked in Supported Employment. I have had my own personal experience of struggling with my Mental Health and have had varied life experiences which I believe helps me to really understand how this can affect the people I support. I really like to connect with people so that I can do the best I can to support a persons overall wellbeing and really make a difference.

Recent Projects
High Intensity Use Program

Rebecca joined Encompass after working in a local estate agents and seeing the impacts of homelessness in her local town. Rebecca has been involved in our safer streets projects and most recently has joined our FLOW team as a HIU support worker.

Tom has been a part of the Community Flow team since the start and his role includes supporting clients from hospital back home, ensuring they have what they need to live at home safely.

Hi, I’m Axel, a 19 year old from Bideford. I began volunteering at Encompass in 2020, in the year between my A-levels at Bideford College and a Philosophy, Politics, and Economics degree. I have been involved with the @RISK media team from the start, working as Encompass’ blog writer. I have also been involved with the Youth Flow project, and found it highly rewarding to sit on the Youth Advisory Panel, as well as providing a young person’s voice on a number of bids and projects. My main interest is in empowering young people in Northern Devon, and the role of the education system and media in achieving this. I’m not impartial to a game of table tennis either.
Through the @RISK project, I hope that we can document this journey, and raise awareness on some of the key symptoms of unfairness in our society.

Recent Projects
@Risk Project

Gareth is a filmmaker, copywriter, and teacher – just not always in that order.

As a secondary school teacher with more than 15 years’ experience teaching Media, Gareth has always sought opportunities for his students to gain real-life filmmaking experience. Because film has tremendous power to engage, inspire and provide a platform for creativity and impactful storytelling. This is his main focus as Creative Director at North Devon Moving Image CIC (NDMI) and the reason for his involvement in the @RISK Project. This is a wonderful opportunity to provide young people and the wider community with access to film and its potential to inspire creativity and tell important stories, giving people a voice and building a platform where they can be heard.

Hi, My Name is Sam Walls. I am an 18-year-old Student and Filmmaker from North Devon. Over my time learning new filmmaking skills I have developed a passion for creating videos and have since been chasing every opportunity to further work on my craft. One of which is working with encompass, this is something I am hugely excited about as it allows me to tell such real, and impactful stories, of which when done well I believe can have an immense influence both positive and negative.

My Roll within the media team is as the Videographer and editor, it brings me great excitement to see where the @Risk project will go, and the future stories I will be able to help tell.

I am a youth support worker focusing on mental health. The project I work in is called In-Reach, which is run by Young Devon and works with many partner agencies all over Devon (including Exeter, Torbay and Plymouth). In-Reach is a youth work led project, which aims to support young people aged 11-18 years old, who have been in hospital with mental health difficulties. We offer support transitioning from the paediatric ward back into the community for up to seven months. I joined my role at Encompass in 2022. I have a degree in psychology which I studied in Bath. Throughout my degree, I focused on learning about children and young people. I wrote my dissertation on the effects of creativity on young people during the lockdown periods of 2020. I like to use my understanding of the benefits of creativity in my sessions with the young people that I work with. I have creative hobbies too; I do lots of painting and embroidery in my free time.

Thomas joined Encompass in 2023 as a trainee debt adviser working across Torridge and West Devon.

Project Lead.

Alex has worked for Encompass since 2018 as a Welfare Benefit Adviser for the British Gas Energy (BGET) Project covering North, Mid Devon and West Somerset. She has worked in different social care roles for last 15 years, having experience of working within both children and vulnerable adults settings.

Recent Projects
Torridge Household Fund, Brave Spaces, BGET

Hello, I’m Pinar, the administrative assistant at Encompass Southwest. With a passion for organizational efficiency and a keen eye for detail , I ensure the smooth operation of daily tasks. Outside of the office, I enjoy exploring the beautiful sights of North Devon and discovering new coastal gems and picturesque towns.

My contribution to the team centers on backing our Brave Spaces project.

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces

Emma began her role of Night Support in October 2021 within our Women’s First supported accommodation. Emma has ten years of experience supporting complex and vulnerable individuals within different Social Care settings. She has a level three diploma in Counselling Skills and a Degree in Fine Art.

Emma is passionate about female empowerment and feels privileged to work within an inclusive organisation which advocates, promotes safety and activates individuals to rise up, who are at risk of marginalization.

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces

Accommodation Support Worker

Esther currently works in our supported accommodation projects for people who are at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping. Her role is to prepare individuals for independent living through a trauma informed approach, with support and skills to help improve their physical and mental well-being, accessing services, budgeting & tenancy management, and much more. Esther also works on the pattern changing course run by the Women First Project, for women who have been in abusive relationships that helps them to break the cycle of abuse, enables them to develop effective coping mechanisms and empowers them to make healthy relationship choices.

“I feel privileged to be part of an organisation that so passionately empowers and advocates for otherwise marginalised people, and provides services which understand and respond to each individual need respectfully and without prejudice.”

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces

Apprentice

Isabelle (Iss) joined our team at Encompass in June 2021 as an apprentice. She will be working in various roles across the charity.

Iss has first-hand experience of working with a range of people having worked locally in tourism and hospitality. She is keen to work in different areas of the charity, although her main role being the Women’s First team.

She is currently shadowing team members from Encompass in the Women’s First team, and with the team members in the supported living that encompass offers.

I joined Encompass in January 2021 as the “Move on” Accommodation Lettings Coordinator.

My role was to work in collaboration with the Winter Rough Sleeper support team to assist occupants to move on from winter emergency accommodation into sustainable accommodation within the private rented sector. Having run my own holiday accommodation business for the past 16 years, I had extensive experience dealing with agents and landlords. Unfortunately, funding ceased for this project in June 2021.

In July 2021, I began my role of Night Support Worker within our Women’s First support accommodation. I have many years of experience working with vulnerable adults, both hands-on and behind the scenes.
I am also a qualified AAT Accountant.

"I have first-hand experience of how people’s circumstances and lives can change overnight. It’s great that I can help vulnerable women to not only address any issues they may have and help them to make positive changes, but to also rise above any stigma and judgements in society."

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces

I'm responsible for assisting in the execution of our Brave Spaces project.

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces

Gender Informed Service Lead

Rhiannon has been working on the Women First project since is started in 2020. After a long time working within Drug and Alcohol and recovery Rhiannon started to take a real interest in women’s services and has spent time working in Exeter on the Resilient Women’s program. Rhiannon has a fine arts degree and loves working with the women she supports on creative projects.

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces, Women Only Supported Accommodation

My role within the team is to support our Brave Spaces initiative.

Recent Projects
Brave Spaces