St Giles: Our Thought Leaders

In this episode, Peter talks to Kelly Ormston, Assistant Manager of our Yorkshire team. Kelly started in 2013 as a part-time caseworker and since worked her way up the ladder, starting at the very beginning of our presence in Yorkshire. We talked to Kelly about Peer Advisors and our lived experience model. At St Giles, over 40% of our staff have lived experience of disadvantage, and it's this peer-led support that allows us to connect better with clients in ways many others can't.

This episode, Olu Ogunleye, Team Leader at our Peer Circles service talked to Peter Walker about how we can tackle poverty, and how Peer Circles, a project helping helps who have experienced severe and multiple disadvantages to gain the skills and confidence they need to access employment opportunities, is doing just that. 

In this bonus episode, Peter spoke to Ann Griffiths, the Lead Manager of our Peer Advisor Network. Ann talks about the importance of using our experiences to shape advice and guidance and help reach people who may not normally be easily reached. 

For our second episode, Peter Walker talks to Kelly Broadbent, who is a perfect example of our mission to empower people to turn their lives around. Kelly's background has been working with victims of domestic abuse. As someone who went through domestic abuse herself, and studied the complex topic as part of her personal healing journey and now helps victims and families going through what she went through herself. Kelly now works as a Delivery Manager in North Yorkshire, an area we're currently relatively new to. In this episode, we're celebrating women in the workplace, the challenges they face that affect us all, and what we can do to make things better. 

In our first episode, we talk Junior Smart, finder of our SOS project which helps thousands of people around the country to escape exploitation and gangs, and to teach young people the harsh realities of gang life. Peter asked Junior about the importance of relationships, how he builds them, the lessons he's learned, the people he's met and helped, and much more.