Meet the Team
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| Alex Baghurst | Jayne Bacon | Peter Barnard | Claire Collins |
Alex Baghurst – Equality & Diversity Consultant
Alex has worked in Further Education for ten years and has led a team that created the Further Education Providers’ Equality Network in 2007. Four years on, having secured and delivered £300k of grant-funded activity, the network continues to thrive and attract new members.
Alex has managed a series of initiatives that include:
- Exemplars in Equality and Diversity Champions – initiatives to share good practice and reward excellence
- Project Empower - focusing on sexuality and gender identity in FE, research and on-line training facility
- Supporting a range of providers by designing and delivering bespoke equality and diversity support
Having coordinated research activity, national events and consultancy assignments, Alex now supports a varied client base to promote diversity and realise their equality objectives. This can include project management, bespoke on-site training or web-based diversity tools.
“Alex has coordinated multiple projects for a range of providers within Further Education. Alex has a strong and clear understanding or provider needs, exceptional project management skills and is highly experienced in equality, diversity and inclusion, and how it can be implemented across all core functions to achieve quality outcomes and equality of opportunities for learners and staff. His passion and commitment to this agenda has supported many providers to embed EDI”
Margaret Adjaye, Head of Equality & Diversity, The Learning & Skills Improvement Service
Jayne Bacon – Equality & Diversity Consultant
Jayne has worked in education for twenty three years and the FE sector for seventeen. During her teaching career she has delivered on several teacher education qualifications and for the last six years she has been the E&D Advisor in an FE/HE establishment.
Jayne’s first degree was a BA in Education, which led her to post graduate research and an Advanced Diploma in Special Educational Needs and ultimately a Masters in Lifelong Learning.
During her time in an equality and diversity role she has:
- Delivering flexible face-to-face and on-line E&D training programmes to a diverse audience
- Age discrimination research project funded by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership
- Presentations at national conferences and network events
- Audits of teaching and learning observations
As a Fellow of the Institute for Learning (IFL), Jayne is engaged with networks and online communities of practice to share ideas, resources and information.
“As part of a grant-funded contract Jayne delivered excellent training on all aspects of diversity. Over her career, she has successfully worked with learners in all types of learning provision to break down barriers and promote the inclusion agenda. I would heartily recommend Jayne to any one who wants to increase their understanding and knowledge in this complex area”
Steve Ward, Inclusion Manager, Young People’s Learning Agency (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Peter Barnard – Human Resources Consultant
Peter Barnard is Director of Peter Barnard Associates Ltd, a HR and Business Consultancy. Until Autumn 2010 he was Registrar at The Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education where he was one of the seven members of the Institute’s Senior Management Team and had responsibility for human resources, diversity, health & safety, health and wellbeing, internal communications, and student services.
Prior to working in Grimsby he worked in HR and line management roles in British Coal, Huddersfield University and Hull College. In Grimsby he developed national award winning strategies for the Institute’s work on employee benefits, health and wellbeing and for equality and diversity.
His company offers consultancy and training to businesses to help them achieve excellence and competitive advantage. He is a regular speaker and chair at conferences and workshops, and acts as an assessor and judge at national and regional awards. I worked with Peter as part of national project on employee wellbeing and engagement. His knowledge and experience is extensive - and he has the ability to combine strong business acumen with genuine passion for employee health and wellbeing. His numerous awards and fantastic results whilst at Grimsby speak for themselves. I look forward to working more with Peter in the future. Kim Shutler-Jones, National Project Manager for Performance, Engagement and Wellbeing, University of Leeds
Claire Collins – Inclusive Learning Consultant
Claire has worked in the further education sector for twelve years,starting her career teaching English as a second/ other language (ESOL). Since 2003, she has consulted for a wide range of organisations on strategy and approaches to making learning inclusive for people with varying educational, social and cultural backgrounds.
During her Masters studies, Claire focussed on learning as part of wider social practices and firmly believes that people learn best when they can draw on and apply lessons to their own life experiences. Claire has a successful track record of working with organisations as diverse as FE colleges, training providers, prisons and national employers, to introduce and implement organisational change. She is also an experienced research facilitator and recently coordinated research for a project called ‘Empower’, which aimed to promote equality in education for people of all sexualities and gender identities.
Claire has an excellent track record as a trainer and has designed and delivered numerous staff development packages aimed at diverse audiences; including leaders and managers and workplace trainers and assessors. Claire has also written and co-written publications for national development projects, including; ‘Developing Whole Organisation Approaches to Skills for Life’ (QIA, 2008) and ‘Making it Work’ (LSIS, 2010).
“Claire is one of the best faclitators to have worked with my team and our partners. She has enabled us to develop a new strategic direction through building the confidence of our new team whilst undergoing organisational change”
Lesley Arrowsmith, Manager, Lifelong Learning, Cheshire East Council