Khrystal Adams, Operations Executive Expand Khrystal has joined AVUK’s operations team recently. Supporting the Operations Manager, Khrystal assists with a wide variety of tasks within each part of AVUK. Khrystal works Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, remotely and in our London office. Email: [email protected]
Antonia Aldous, Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Antonia’s first degree was in Biomedical Science from Kings College London. After a few years in medical research, she retrained as a Speech and Language Therapist at City University in London, qualifying in 2002. She worked at Hounslow Primary Care Trust for 5 years, working with preschool and primary aged children with hearing loss as well as in a language unit. Antonia then moved to the Speech Language and Hearing Centre at Christopher Place in London where she worked as a Highly Specialised Speech and Language Therapist with preschool children with hearing loss and their families. As part of her role, she was the Speech and Language Therapist on the Cochlear Implant Team at St Georges Hospital where she worked for 5 years. It was whilst at St Georges Hospital that she was first introduced to Auditory Verbal Therapy. She was so enthused and excited by it, that she started her training as and Auditory Verbal Therapist at AVUK, qualifying as an LSLS Cert. AVT in 2016. Antonia is passionate about helping children meet their auditory potential, empowering and skilling parents and carers. She believes that therapy should be fun and enjoyable for everybody! Antonia works part-time remotely and at the London Centre on Mondays and Wednesdays from home, 9.45am to 13.45. E mail: [email protected]
Lyndsey Allen, Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Graduating as a Speech and Language Therapist in 1998, Lyndsey’s spent 25 years learning about child development and supporting families to get better outcomes for their children. She’s worked across public, private, and charitable sectors in both clinical and leadership roles, cementing an international reputation as a speaker and trainer. A LSLS Certified Auditory Verbal Therapist since 2008 and PRINCE 2 qualified project manager, she has a distinctive skill set of clinical and business skills. She’s currently working across 3 different organisations. As conference director for ASLTIP (Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice), as clinician and consultant for her independent practice THINK TALK and LEARN, and with AVUK across both training and clinical teams. When she’s not working you might find her pulling some shapes on a yoga mat or hanging out with kids at the park. Publications Hutchins., T. Allen., L & Schefer., M (2017) Using the Theory of Mind Inventory to Detect a Broad Range of Theory of Mind Challenges in Children with Hearing Loss: A Pilot Study Deafness & Education International (Published online 2017.01.23) Allen, L. & Simpson Allen, J (2012) What can a parent and professional do in a home-based program when they do not have a lot of “therapy” toys? In W. Estabrooks (Ed.), 101 Frequently Asked Questions About Auditory-Verbal Practice (pp.93-97). Washington DC: The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Plus numerous articles for professional and parent publications such as Bulletin (SLT magazine) and BATOD (Teacher of the Deaf magazine). Lyndsey works Wednesday between 10am-12pm. Email: [email protected]
Louise Ashton, Training Lead and Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand MA Communication Pathology, MRCSLT, PgDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert. AVT® Louise is dually trained as a Speech-Language Therapist and Audiologist, having earned her master's degree from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. After a year working in a government hospital in South Africa, she moved to the UK, where she lived for 12 years. During this time, she spent 7 years specialising in audiology and speech and language therapy within the National Health Service (NHS) and Local Authorities (LA) in Scotland, London, and Bristol. There, she trained to become a Highly Specialised Speech and Language Therapist for children with hearing loss and completed her postgraduate diploma in Auditory Verbal Therapy with distinction from Aston University. Louise worked at Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) for 5 of her 12 years in the UK, where she was mentored towards achieving her LSLS Cert. AVT® certification. Currently residing in South Africa, Louise leads Auditory Verbal UK's training programs, supports the clinical team, mentors professionals, and frequently travels internationally to lecture and provide training. She also runs a private practice supporting a small caseload of families from the Johannesburg Implant Program and is an active member of the Rehabilitation Task Team (RTT) of the South African Cochlear Implant Group (SACIG). Working hours: Louise works remotely from South Africa and travels to the UK annually Tuesday - Thursday: o Core hours (Nov-April): 06:00 - 11:30, with flexible hours for the rest of the week Core hours (April-Nov): 07:00 - 12:30, with flexible hours for the rest of the week Publications: Clark, F., Ashton, L., Kenely, N., Hogan, S. (2021). International Telepractice for therapy and training – Auditory Verbal UK’s Perspective. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups Quayle, R.E., Ashton, L. & Estabrooks, W. (2020). The Development of Play and Auditory-Verbal Therapy. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Maclver-Lux, K., Ashton, L. & Quayle, R.E, (2020). The Auditory-Verbal Session: Planning, Delivery and Evaluation. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. Ashton, L. & Clark, F. (2017). Turning Pages Through the Ages: Acceleration progress through interactive book sharing. British Association of Teachers of the Deaf Association Magazine, September 2017. ISSN 1336-0799. Ashton, L. & Gazeley, K. (2017). The Parent Journey. British Association of Teachers of the Deaf Association Magazine, May 2017. ISSN 1336-0799. MacIver-Lux, Lim, S.R., Rhoades, E.A., Robertson, L., Quayle. R. & Honck. (2016). Milestones in Auditory-Verbal Development: Auditory Processing Speech, Language, Emergent Literacy , Play and Theory of Mind in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp219-262). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K., Honck, L. & Quayle. R. (2016). Blueprint of and Auditory-Verbal Therapy Session in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 341-350). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Honck, L., Tannebaum-Katsaggelos, S., de Melo, M.E., Clem, B.C., Sindrey, D., Katz, L., MacIver-Lux, K & Steacie, P. (2016). Auditory Verbal Therapy in Action: Step-by-Step Session Plans in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 351-472). Plural Publishing Inc. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: Louise Honck Facebook: Louise Avuk
Jo Barclay Bowen, Head of Fundraising Expand Jo brings over a decade of experience in leading fundraising teams and creating impact for charities through strategic partnerships. She is passionate about helping people and organisations thrive through values-led leadership and people development. Alongside working, Jo is studying for her CIPD Level 5 in Learning and Organisational Development, deepening her expertise in building learning cultures and supporting organisational growth. She is excited to contribute to AVUK’s mission to ensure all deaf children have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. Pronouns: She/Her Email: [email protected]
Victoria Bishop-Rowe, Head of Communications and Engagement Expand Victoria, known as Tori, joined AVUK in August 2022 bringing with her almost 10 years of strategic communications experience working across the public and charity sectors. Tori is passionate about integrated, agile and effective communications having previously developed and led national campaigns that create positive change, build profile and deliver measurable outcomes at organisations including Terrance Higgins Trust, The Electoral Commission and The National Lottery Community Fund. Heading up the communications team which covers digital comms, PR, marketing and public affairs, Tori is helping deliver the ambitious and exciting 10-year strategy and create a groundswell for support for AV therapy to ensure all deaf children have the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers. Tori works from Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/Her
Jennifer B. Boyd, Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand M.A. Speech-Language Pathology, LSLS Cert. AVT Jennifer is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, certified Auditory Verbal therapist. She currently works across AVUK's clinical, training, and outreach teams remotely from Edinburgh. Jennifer trained to be a speech and language therapist at Baylor University and received her master’s degree from the University of Kansas. She began providing auditory-verbal therapy to families at Hearts for Hearing, a comprehensive hearing healthcare center in Oklahoma City in 2012. She qualified as a certified Auditory Verbal therapist in 2015 and continued her full-time, clinical role at Hearts for Hearing until relocating to Scotland. In 2020, Jennifer accepted a position at Hearing First, an online learning community supporting families and professionals pursuing listening and spoken language outcomes for children with hearing loss. Jennifer joined the team at AVUK in December 2021. In addition to her roles at AVUK, Jennifer continues as a consultant and mentor for professionals pursuing certification as listening and spoken language specialists at Hearts for Hearing and Hearing First. Jennifer works Thursday 8-12 and Friday 13:00-16:00, but is currently on maternity leave. Email: [email protected]
Rebecca de Vyea, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Rebecca is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist and Auditory Verbal Therapist. Rebecca trained to be a speech and language therapist at the University of Newcastle in 2002, qualifying with a master’s degree in Language Pathology. She began training with AVUK in October 2018 and qualified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist in 2023. Rebecca has specialised in delivering therapy to children with hearing loss since 2008. She works with babies, pre-school, and some older children with varying degrees of hearing loss and language levels. Rebecca works- Tuesdays 8:30-4:30; Thursday 1pm-5pm; and Fridays 8:30-4:30. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Rachel French, Operations Manager Expand In January 2022 Rachel celebrated 15 years' at AVUK. As part of the Operations team her role encompasses governance, HR, facilities, IT, clinical administration and scheduling. She is also responsible for the scheduling and administration for all of AVUK's Foundation and Advanced training courses and Continued Mentorship programmes. Rachel works flexi-hours and is primarily home-based, her core hours are Mon-Thurs 09.30-17.30. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: Rachel French
Estelle Gerrett, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand LSLS Cert. AVT, B.Ed (Hons), Adv Post.Grad Dip HI Estelle's career in working with hearing loss and speech development began under personal circumstances. Her son, Nathan, contracted meningitis when he was one, and lost his hearing as a result. Despite being told that Nathan would not be able to develop speech, Estelle believed there must be a way. So Estelle, who already had a career as a primary school teacher, went to University and gained a Masters in Hearing Impairment and Speech Development so she could teach her son to talk. She later certified as an Auditory Verbal Therapist and over the past 14 years has coached hundreds of parents to develop their children’s listening, talking and social skills at the Hearing House in New Zealand. In September 2017 Estelle moved to the UK and joined the team of Auditory Verbal therapists at Auditory Verbal UK. At the end of 2021 Estelle returned to New Zealand but will continue to mentor trainees virtually and online. Estelle works in two week rotations. the first week she works on Tuesday and Wednesday 9am-5pm (in New Zealand local time), and in the second week she is contactable by email only. Email: [email protected]
Anita Grover, Chief Executive Expand Anita became Chief Executive of AVUK in 2013 following a 20 year career in the public sector. As a senior civil servant, she led communications on the government’s disability, employers, pensions and poverty agendas, working with a succession of cabinet ministers, business leaders and third sector organisations. Anita is profoundly deaf, having lost her hearing progressively from childhood. She had successful cochlear implant surgery in 2006 and brings to the role personal insight into hearing loss and a passion for improving outcomes for deaf children. In 2014 Anita became the first CEO of a UK-based charity to be awarded the Macquarie David Clarke Social Innovation Fellowship and was nominated for the 2015 Rising CEO of the Year at the Third Sector Awards. In Dec 2016 Anita was awarded a Fellowship by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. Anita is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a former governor of a primary school in Buckinghamshire. From 2018-2020 she supported smaller charities in the health sector as a consultant on the Kings Fund Cascading Leadership programme and is currently a coach on the GSK/Kings Fund Grow programme. Anita usually works Monday- Thursday, sometimes spread across Friday also. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AnitaGrover Facebook: Anita Avuk Pronouns: She/Her
Sylvia Hallahan, Senior Partnerships Manager Expand Sylvia joined AVUK in November 2022 and brings with her a wealth of knowledge from working with global and national brands on consumer lead fundraising initiatives, as well as Charity of the Year partnerships and special events. She is passionate about empowering brands, employees and donors to make a real difference and raise expectations and outcomes for deaf children through access to Auditory Verbal Therapy. Sylvia works Monday – Friday both remotely in France and from the London centre. Email: [email protected]
Liz Hamilton, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Liz qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1999. Her final clinical placement at university gave Liz a passion for working with children with a hearing loss and their families. Since then, Liz has worked for the NHS supporting a wide range of children, from four months to 16 years old, in a variety of settings, including a specialist school for the Deaf, resourced provisions within mainstream schools, nurseries, homes and community clinics. In 2005 she joined the Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service’s multidisciplinary team as a principal speech and language therapist where she remained until August 2023. During this time Liz met with colleagues who had already completed their training in Auditory Verbal Therapy, and she could see the positive difference this had made to the children’s speech and language outcomes. This led her to pursue the training for herself and she qualified as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, certified Auditory Verbal Therapist in 2018. Liz joined the team at AVUK in October 2023 and is based in Yorkshire. She also works as an independent therapist with a developing interest in supporting children with additional needs, in particular neurodivergent children. She is currently studying a Postgraduate Diploma in Sensory Integration. In her spare time Liz enjoys spending time with her family, going to see concerts and shows, but mostly you will find her running, preferably over hills and in the countryside. Liz works Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 8.30-4.30 Email: [email protected]
Mariana Helbig, Senior Auditory Verbal Educator Expand MA CED LSLS Cert. AVEd Mariana is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she received a BA in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the University of Buenos Aires in 1999. After finishing college, she settled in St. Louis, Missouri, United States with her husband; where she continued her professional development. In 2000 she obtained a scholarship from the Oberkotter Foundation, with which in 2002 she completed her Masters in Early Intervention in Deaf Education and the career of Teacher of the Deaf, as well as Teacher for the Deaf at Fontbonne University. In 2006, she obtained the certification as a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist - Auditory-Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert. AVEd). From the year 2000 to 2018, Mariana worked at the Moog Center for Deaf Education in St. Louis, Missouri, United States; first as a classroom assistant, and since 2002, providing early intervention to children with hearing loss and their families (0-5 years). Through the Moog Center, she acted as a consultant for two centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Lima, Peru. In the year 2018, Mariana co-founded and created Escuchar sin Límites, a web page dedicated to supporting listening, spoken language, and cognition development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing through family empowerment, professional training, and access to information in Spanish. The opportunity of working in the United States and in Latin America, allowed Mariana to experience the disparity of access to resources and information available to Spanish speaking families and professionals, who support the development of people with hearing loss to the maximum of their potential, so they are active and full participants in their society. Mariana serves as a member of the AGBell Academy's Certification Committee since 2018, and the AGBell Academy's Board of Directors since 2021. In her spare time, Mariana spends time at home, travels, or visits her family and friends in Argentina. She enjoys the outdoors, hiking, skiing, walking, and paddleboarding. She currently resides in Düsseldorf, Germany with her husband, Sebastian, and their four sons, Santiago, Matías, Nicolás, and Tomás. Mariana generally works Monday – Thursday typically between 8am and 12pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Sarah Hogan, Head of Research and Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand Clinical Scientist (Audiology), DPhil, PgDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert AVT® Sarah was awarded her MSc in Audiology from University of Southampton in 1985. She started her career as a paediatric audiologist within the NHS and moved to the Welsh Hearing Institute to collaborate on applied research for both paediatric and adult populations. She conducted longitudinal, prospective research into the development of binaural hearing in children for her doctorate at the University Laboratory of Physiology in Oxford. She was the first Clinical Director of The Burwood Centre, an independent assessment centre for children with permanent hearing loss. Sarah lectured on the BSc Audiology at Aston University prior to joining AVUK. Sarah joined AVUK in 2006 as our Research Coordinator and was mentored towards certification, qualifying as an LSLS Cert AVT® in 2012. Sarah coordinates the development of our evidence base through research as well as working directly with families on our programme. She delivers training on various AVUK programmes and presents at national and international conferences. Sarah has several publications in peer reviewed journals and has co-authored book chapters with colleagues including, Stacey Lim LSLS Cert AVT; Elizabeth Tyszkiewicz LSLS Cert AVT; Kathryn Ritter LSLS Cert AVT, Denise Hayward and Noel Kenely LSLS Cert AVT; and Ellie Goldblatt and Anita Grover. Sarah works Monday-Thursday 08.30-16.00 at our Oxfordshire centre and remotely. Email: [email protected]
Noel Kenely, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist and Clinical Lead Expand Noel qualified as a speech and language therapist from the University of Malta in 2004. He has worked as a speech and language therapist and a sign language interpreter with The Deaf People Association (Malta). He moved to the UK in 2006 where he has worked as a speech and language therapist with different NHS Trusts and as a mainstream teacher at a secondary school in North London. Noel started training with AVUK in 2012 through the Foundation Course which he describes as his light bulb moment when he realised the importance of maximising listening to achieve spoken language. Noel joined the AVUK team in October 2014 and qualified as a Cert. AVT in 2016. Noel leads the outreach work at AVUK and is the clinical lead. He has a special interest in the use of Telepractice and working with families of deaf children with additional needs. Noel works Monday-Friday between 8:30am- 4:30pm and works remotely and from the London centre. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Noel AVUK Pronouns: He/Him
Sabrina Malik, Family Support Officer Expand Sabrina has a degree in Primary Education with QTS, and BSL Level 2 certification. Since joining AVUK, she has been dedicated to supporting families with children who have hearing loss. Her goal is to empower families to make informed choices and feel confident as advocates for their children. As a mother of a deaf son who has gone through the AVUK Auditory Verbal therapy programme, she brings both professional and personal experience to her role. She is passionate about making a positive impact and committed to AVUK's mission. Working hours Monday- Friday mornings Email: [email protected]
Chelsie Nicholls, Communications and Marketing Manager Expand Chelsie has over 12 years’ marketing experience in the charity sector. Chelsie joined the team as the Communications and Marketing Manager in February 2020 and leads on our communications and marketing activities. Chelsie works Monday to Wednesday from 8:15 AM to 5:15 PM and Thursday from 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @AuditoryVerbal Pronouns: She/Her
Rosie Quayle, Clinical Advisor Expand BSc (Hons) SLT, Cert MRCSLT, PGDip Auditory Verbal Therapy, LSLS Cert. AVT® Rosie qualified as a speech and language therapist in London at University College London. She moved to Oxfordshire in September 2007 to join the team at Auditory Verbal UK. She completed her diploma in auditory verbal therapy and qualified as an LSLS certified auditory verbal therapist in 2009, after training at Auditory Verbal UK. Rosie has undertaken training in the PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets) technique for assessment and management of children with oro-motor speech production difficulties. She lectures and delivers training in auditory verbal therapy to parents and professionals across the UK and internationally and mentors professionals towards certification. Rosie was Clinical Lead at Auditory Verbal UK from April 2013-June 2016. She now works as Clinical Advisor, splitting time between delivering training, direct services to families and overseeing the Quality Assurance process for Auditory Verbal UK. Rosie is a Churchill Fellow, having undertaken a fellowship visit to AV centres in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Rosie works flexibly one day per week. Email: [email protected] Publications Quayle, R. (2021). Using Problems in play to develop communication. SEN Magazine, August 2021. Using problems in play to develop communication • SEN Magazine Quayle, R.A., Ashton, L. & Estabrooks, W. (2020). The Development of Play and Auditory-Verbal Therapy. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Maclver-Lux, K., Ashton, L. & Quayle, R.E, (2020). The Auditory-Verbal Session: Planning, Delivery and Evaluation. IN Estabrooks, W., McCaffrey Morrison, H. & Maclver-Lux, K. Auditory-Verbal Therapy Science, Research and practice. Plural Publishing Inc. MacIver-Lux, Lim, S.R., Rhoades, E.A., Robertson, L., Quayle. R. & Honck. (2016). Milestones in Auditory-Verbal Development: Auditory Processing Speech, Language, Emergent Literacy , Play and Theory of Mind in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp219-262). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K., Honck, L. & Quayle. R. (2016). Blueprint of and Auditory-Verbal Therapy Session in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 341-350). Plural Publishing Inc. Estabrooks, W., Honck, L., Tannebaum-Katsaggelos, S., de Melo, M.E., Clem, B.C., Sindrey, D., Katz, L., MacIver-Lux, K & Steacie, P. (2016). Auditory Verbal Therapy in Action: Step-by-Step Session Plans in Estabrooks, W., MacIver-Lux, K. & Rhoades, E.A. (Ed), Auditory Verbal Therapy For Young Children with Hearing loss and Their Families and the Practitioners Who Guide Them (pp 351-472). Plural Publishing Inc.
Gary Rainbird, Database and IT Manager Expand Gary joined AVUK in May 2017 bringing a wealth of IT, Database Management and Research experience from across the charity, recruitment and media sectors. Mainly based at home Gary visits both AVUK centres as required. Gary works full-time Monday to Friday between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected]
Stuart Robertson, Director of Finance and Operations Expand Stuart joined AVUK in August 2020 as Director of Finance and Operations. He works full-time, Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm. Email: [email protected]
Mohammed Sabbir, CRM Manager Expand Mohammed joined Auditory Verbal UK in February 2025, bringing over five years of experience in Salesforce CRM management and implementation. With a strong background in optimising customer relationship management systems, Mo has worked across various industries to enhance data-driven decision-making, streamline workflows, and improve user adoption. Passionate about leveraging technology to drive meaningful engagement and operational efficiency, Mo has designed and implemented tailored Salesforce solutions that support business objectives and enhance customer experiences. At AVUK, Mo leads the development and optimisation of the charity’s CRM, ensuring it supports the organisation’s ambitious 10-year strategy. By enhancing data management, automation, and reporting capabilities, they are helping AVUK build stronger relationships, improve efficiency, and ultimately support more deaf children in achieving the same opportunities in life as their hearing peers.
Tamara Schmidt, Research Assistant Expand Tamara joined the AVUK research team as research assistant in November 2025. She holds a doctorate in education/psycholinguistics, with a keen interest in how children learn to communicate in context (‘pragmatics’), and the role that adult speakers hold in supporting their child to thrive communicatively. Tamara is passionate about high-quality research and values the necessity of evidence-based research to inform changes for the betterment of children’s communication opportunities and, by extension, associated life chances. Pronouns: she/her Email: [email protected]
Alison Smith, Trusts and Foundations Manager Expand Alison joined AVUK in May 2024 having worked as a fundraiser for several years in charities, including at Age UK, the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People and Parkinson's UK. Most of that time has been spent in trust fundraising and she has a real passion for matching trust funders to great projects and enabling them to start or continue to make a difference. She will be using those skills to support our 10 year mission to help all families who want their child to be able to listen and talk to access Auditory Verbal Therapy Following our recent successes with trust funders at AVUK, Alison is adding to our team resources, enabling us to make more applications, as well as keep donors engaged with our work and send them high-quality reports. She enjoys meeting funders and getting to know about our work from colleagues and families, so do get in touch. Alison works on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9am-5pm Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/her
Amy Spicer, Family Support Manager Expand Amy holds a Psychology degree from the University of Southampton. After graduating Amy developed a passion for working in the early intervention field and supporting families with children under 5. Amy became the Early Support co-ordinator for a Phase 1 Sure start Centre in Hampshire supporting families with children with disabilities and bringing professionals together to ensure families got timely and cohesive help from professionals. Amy moved on to work in Family Support in Oxford City Children's Centres and then managed two rural centres, one of which was developed to run as a charity model under Amy's leadership. Amy is a parent educator and able to help with all aspects of family support and bursary funding. Her working days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.30-4.30pm. Email: [email protected] Pronouns: She/Her
David Tatham, Trusts and Foundations Manager Expand David joined AVUK in April 2020. He trained originally as a Landscape Architect but joined the Voluntary Sector soon after graduating and has over 21 years’ experience in charity fundraising and development, during which time he has focussed primarily on Trusts and Foundations and Corporate income generation. Prior to AVUK David worked in homelessness, supported housing, the arts and heritage and conservation sectors, including ten years at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. David works full-time, Monday to Friday, 9-5pm. Email: [email protected]
Mariavittoria Vallarino, Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapist, certified Auditory Verbal Therapist LSLS Cert. AVT® Mariavittoria qualified as a speech and language therapist from the University of Genoa, in 2001. Since her bachelor degree dissertation on cochlear implants in children in 2001, she focused her work on giving the best service to families with deaf children. She worked in Italy for 13 years as a part of a Paediatric Rehabilitation Centre and Audiology teams in hospitals in Genoa, Rome and Modena, working on diagnosis and rehabilitation. The one day Workshop “Creating Auditory Learning Environment for Children who are Deaf or Hard of hearing” in 2005 was her first encounter with Auditory Verbal Therapy. Since then, she has realised that there are no limits to what a deaf child can achieve. In 2014, she moved to London to start her training to become LSLS Cert AVT with Auditory Verbal UK. She decided to start volunteering for Auditory Verbal UK in order to learn as much as she could. To her, their work was hugely inspirational and still is. After five years of training in December 2019, she passed her exam and she was given the title of Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Auditory Verbal Therapist (LSLS Cert.AVT) by the AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language, and now she is the first Italian and the first in Scotland to be LSLS Cert. AVT. Becoming an AV therapist helped her to re-examine her beliefs and to adapt what she does in order to serve all families and children. She learnt to think critically and to analyse thoroughly her practice. As a bilingual therapist, she developed an interest in bilingual language acquisition in both hearing and deaf children, studying the best way to support families in their linguistic choices. She was delighted to join AVUK in May 2021. She is based in Glasgow and works locally, remotely and in London Tuesday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm.. Email:[email protected] Instagram:Mariavittoria Vallarino
Ros Whitlock, Senior Partnerships Manager Expand Ros joined AVUK in November 2025 and brings a wealth of experience having worked on a wide range of strategic partnerships, charity of the year, employee engagement, cause related marketing through customer donations, sponsorship and volunteering. She has led on large events and managed projects and is keen to partner with companies to reach high impact goals to meet their ESG goals and make a difference to society. She is passionate about providing opportunities for deaf children to succeed and to raise outcomes through being able to provide access to Auditory Verbal Therapy. Ros works Monday to Thursday both remotely and from the London centre. Email: [email protected]
Victoria Watermeyer, Senior Auditory Verbal Therapist Expand LSLS Cert. AVT, SLT, Cert RCSLT, Audiologist, PGCert Hearing and Development Vicky is dually trained as a Speech and Language Therapist and Audiologist and obtained her degree at the University of Pretoria in 2002. Vicky has specialised in delivering audiology and speech and language therapy across a range of different settings to various client groups since qualifying in 2002. She completed her postgraduate Certificate in Hearing and Development at Aston University in 2010. After joining the team at AVUK in October 2012, she was mentored towards LSLS CertAVT® by Jacqueline Stokes, and Rosie Quayle, Sarah Hogan, Susannah Burden and Louise Honck and she obtained her certification in April 2017. She spends her time in clinical work, supporting families and also delivers training on various AVUK programmes for parents and professionals. Vicky has a particular interest in working with young babies (0-24 months) and children with additional disabilities on an Auditory Verbal Programme. Vicky works Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, between 9am-3pm as core hours. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Vicky Avuk Pronouns: She/her
Jane Warriner, PR Manager Expand Jane joined the team at AVUK in January 2020. She has more than 25 years of experience in communications including PR and media with a background and training in journalism. Jane leads on PR and is the first point of contact for all press and media enquiries. She works Tuesday to Thursday, between 9am-5pm. Email: [email protected] Twitter:@AuditoryVerbal Facebook: AuditoryVerbalUK