We are delighted to announce that with the funding awarded by Richmond Parish Lands Charity we have hired our first employee, Clair Sullivan. Previously a volunteer for ADHD Richmond and Kingston and mum to a son with ADHD and having run her own business, Clair is very well qualified to take on this role. It is a part-time position, which will initially be for 9 hours per week.
Commenting on Clair’s appointment, Annette Wilson, our Chair and Founder said: “We are delighted to have attracted someone of Clair’s calibre as we are putting in place an infrastructure to ensure ADHD Richmond and Kingston is sustainable into the future. Similarly, the essence of what we do is to serve as a support community for parents and professionals working with children and young people with ADHD and so it was very important to fill the role with someone who understands the needs of our community.”
Clair commented: “I am very excited about the opportunity to build on the strong reputation and foundations that have been laid and through the use of new technology look to build a solid infrastructure for our activities.” Clair further explained about her initial involvement with ADHD Richmond and Kingston : “I came to know of ADHD R & K when my own son was diagnosed with ADHD. After being diagnosed, I left the CAMHS office with my son, a few leaflets, and a feeling of being completely adrift. After doing some research on where best to find help, I found ADHD R & K. It was such relief to find this support community and I was able to learn so much and find support through the seminars and information that was made available. Most importantly, I no longer felt lost and alone.”
Annette Wilson explained the background behind creating this new role. She said: “The group was at an inflexion point last year, when we carried out a strategic review to establish if we were serving a real need. We consulted with the families we have been supporting and also other stakeholders such as Achieving for Children, the NHS, healthcare professionals and teaching staff. The overwhelming response from the consultation was that our services were highly valued and serves a real gap in provisioning that was not available elsewhere. The result of this was that we totally reviewed how we were run and concluded that the only way to ensure the group was sustainable into the future was to build a proper infrastructure. Since then we have registered as a charity and obtained our first funding, which has enabled us to hire our first employee. There is more work to be done by we are delighted with our progress so far, which has been enabled with the support of our wonderful volunteers.”
Clair can be contacted at communications@adhdrichmond.org
Annette can be contacted at chair@adhdrichmond.org