Connected Together CIC
Kate Holt
Chief Executive Officer
Kate has both Institute of Management and Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications. She has had a diverse working background, most recently in banking commercial services. Prior to this Kate was the Business Manager for the Peer Clearing House at the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and Chief Officer of Huntingdon Community Health Council, monitoring the NHS on behalf of the public.
Email Kate or Phone: 07961 804382
Julie Curtis
Personal Assistant
Julie is the Personal Assistant to Kate Holt and supports the Connected Together CIC team. She has had a longstanding interest within the health and social care sector and has held various administrative positions which include working at Northampton General Hospital, a local GP surgery, Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust, and Northamptonshire County Council for the Safeguarding and Care Planning Team. Prior to joining CTCIC, Julie worked for a number of years within the mental health sector as a Mental Health Act Administrator at a local mental health rehabilitation hospital and also at St Andrew’s Healthcare Northampton as Clinical Secretary.
Jo Spenceley
PhD, CMRS – Research and Communications Manager
Jo leads CTCIC’s research into the patient, service user, carer and general public experiences and views of the health and social care sector in the county and ensures that this research is reported and shared so that it contributes to improving health and social care. She also oversees Healthwatch’s monitoring of services, the collection of intelligence from other sources and communications. Jo is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society.
Email Jo or Phone: 07402 366193
Natasha Mansukhani
MSc – Research, Reporting and Intelligence Assistant
As Research, Reporting and Intelligence Assistant for Healthwatch, Natasha assists the team to collect, analyse and report on the views and experiences of patients, services users, carers and the public. Natasha holds a degree in Psychology and an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Prior to joining Connected Together CIC, Natasha worked for Connexions – a youth service that provided information, advice and support to young people, aiming to reduce youth unemployment. Natasha has also worked as a Research Assistant at The Centre for Children and Youth (The University of Northampton) following graduation from her Master’s Degree, where there was the opportunity to support the team with a number of projects and contribute to publications. Projects she was involved in examined volunteering experiences, youth clubs and An Equality Impact Assessment.
Lauren Gibbons
Communications Assistant
Lauren is responsible for the social media and website communication for Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Connected Together. Lauren studied Level 3 Journalism and PR at Northampton College while gaining further industry experience at Inspiration FM. The volunteer work for the station allowed her to be creative with digital and audio content while attending live events on behalf of the station to further promote their values of diversity and inclusion. Lauren chose to take on a Digital Marketing apprenticeship at Connected Together over University for more industry experience.
Mandy Sampson
Administration Assistant
Mandy joined Healthwatch in October, and is working with us as an Administration Assistant until June 2021. She has previously worked with volunteers in Australia, where she spent several months teaching computer skills to senior citizens in rural areas. She also volunteers as a voice actor on the autism website The Curly Hair Project, providing voices for various animated characters.
Simon Barter
Business Development and Communications
Simon has held senior marketing and communication positions with major organisations for over 30 years. He was lately Communications Director at Carewatch Care Services, the national home care company. Simon is now a consultant and offers voluntary communications support to Connected Together, the Dementia Action Alliance and Oakfield Community.
Healthwatch Northamptonshire
Esther Stimpson
Project Manager and Lead Officer for Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire
Esther is Project Manager and Lead Officer for Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire. Esther trained with the National Childbirth Trust to become a Pregnancy Birth and Beyond Practitioner and has been involved in healthcare in Northamptonshire for a number of years. She was previously the Co-Chair of Northamptonshire Breastfeeding Alliance (NBA). While in this role she has attended many meetings regarding children and families in the county and helped to raise funds to keep vital services open. Esther has also previously worked as a Youth Worker in rural Northamptonshire.
Email Esther or Phone: 07376 130329
Katie Bayliss
Acting Healthwatch Northamptonshire Manager
Katie Bayliss has responsibility for recruiting and supporting volunteers in Healthwatch Northamptonshire, as well as supporting projects, consultations and engagement work.
Katie has a National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Sciences and is studying for a degree in Design and Innovation from the Open University. Prior to joining Healthwatch Northamptonshire, Katie worked as a community sports coach and also undertook development and engagement work on physical education for young people across the county. She volunteers with Northamptonshire Titans Basketball Club.
Email Katie or Phone: 07939 823305
Carers’ Voice
Lynne Jones
Carers Voice Co-ordinator and Project Support Officer
As Carers Voice Co-ordinator, Lynne Jones will be gathering the views and experiences of adults, children and young people who are caring, or have cared for someone in the past, to ensure their voices are heard by care and support providers and commissioners.
Lynne is a Social Worker with experience of working for Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire Social Services and national charities, Scope and McIntyre Care. She has led several commissioning tenders within the county and is also a carer for a family member.
or phone 07856875132
Healthwatch Rutland
Tracey Allan-Jones
Healthwatch Rutland Manager
Tracy’s working background has been very varied, ranging from project and team management roles in large computing and telecommunications corporations to setting up and running small internet-based businesses. As office manager in a small Healthwatch, she pretty much gets involved in every activity from communication and marketing through events planning, signposting, general office support and helping people to access local health and social care services. Do you have feedback on your experience of local health and social care services? Would you like to become a member of Healthwatch Rutland and receive regular information updates to your inbox? She’d love to hear from you!
or Phone: 07553 14470
