Meet the team

We are rated Outstanding in
all areas by Ofsted

Meet the team

Catherine Cook
Chief Executive

Catherine is mum to Peter Pan graduate Eddie, who has Down’s syndrome. When Eddie moved on to school, Catherine didn’t want to leave the centre behind and was delighted to return as Fundraising and Communications Manager in 2019. Now our Chief Executive, Catherine is honoured and proud to be able to bring her own experience to help families like her own at the very start of their special needs journey.

Sadie Clarke
Centre Manager

Sadie has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Childhood Studies. Working within the Early Years Sector for 14 years, in mainstream private nurseries and at the Peter Pan Centre since 2014, Sadie has a breath of knowledge in children’s development and supporting children with SEND.

Sadie is a lover of all things Disney and has a beagle called Gus who gets up to all kinds of fun and mischief.

Joanne Sumnell
Fundraising & Finance Manager

Jo has lots of charity experience and manages the financial administration of our charity and works with our family of supporters locally to raise much-needed funds to help our children and families.

Jo is currently working towards her Association of Accounting Technicians qualification. When she isn’t busy studying, she can usually be found snuggled on the sofa with her lovely Labrador Paddy.

Claire Addis
Fundraising Manager

Claire has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Geography and Economics, but discovered her love of charities when she spent a year volunteering across the globe. She has been fundraising for charities ever since, working in the sector for 20 years now. Together with Jo and Catherine, Claire will be working hard to ensure that we can continue to give some of our most vulnerable local children the best start in life.

When she’s not pestering people to jump out of a plane or sit in a bath of baked beans, Claire loves spending time with her husband, two daughters, two cats and two rats (yes, she does manage to have cats and rats in the same house!).

Kirsty Perry
Family Support Manager

Kirsty has a Bachelor of Arts with honours first class, in the study of early childhood. Kirsty’s passion for supporting our families has grown over her time at the Centre and she offers invaluable support and advice in her Family support role.

When Kirsty is not working at the Centre she can be found hanging upside down at her second home, the Aerial Studio.

Alice Holford
Deputy Centre Manager

Alice has a NCFE CACHE Level 4 certificate for the Early Years Advanced Practitioner. Alice initially completed her student placement with us and then began employment at the Centre in 2015. Alice has a keen interest in supporting children with a wide range of SEND and is our pro at teaching our team new songs using Makaton signing.

Alice’s dog Diddy keeps her on her toes and often awake at night. Alice is always championing for a fancy dress Pyjama Day where she can.

Michelle Hollins
Senior Specialist Practitioner

Michelle has a NVQ Level 3 in children’s care, learning and development. Michelle has worked at the Peter Pan Centre for over 10 years, and though she left us for childcare commitments for a short time when we were based at the Orme Centre, she missed us so much she was soon back! Michelle has in-depth knowledge about how to best support children with a wide range of SEND.

Michelle loves Christmas and embraces all fancy-dress opportunities at the Centre with a smile on her face, and is usually found dressed as a pumpkin or a pirate.

Katie Bew
Specialist Practitioner

Katie has a Bachelor of Arts with second class honours in Early Childhood Studies and has worked within the SEND sector throughout her career, bringing a wide range of experience of supporting children of all ages and SEND to our team.

Katie has fantastic organisational skills and can give Marie Kondo a run for her money with her cupboard organisational skills.

Laura Haslam
Specialist Practitioner

Laura has an EDI Level 3 NVQ in Children’s Care, Learning and Development. Laura has a wide range of experience of supporting children with SEND in mainstream settings before coming to work at Peter Pan in 2020.

Laura has a hidden talent for baking cakes and makes the most delicious and pretty cakes. Laura’s dog Otis often likes to play hide and seek with her shoes.

Jason Bird
Specialist Practitioner

Jason has a Foundation degree in Arts & Education Teaching Assistant. Jason volunteered with us at the Centre before coming to work with us in 2019. Jason has a very calming nature working with the children.

If you are looking for TV recommendations to watch in free time, Jason is your man. He can save you hours of scrolling through what to watch.

Terresa Crabb
Specialist Practitioner

Terresa has a BTEC National Diploma Caring Services (Nursery Nursing). Terresa has a high level of experience supporting children with SEND in mainstream and children with EAL.

Terresa loves Stoke FC and you can find her at all the home games. When not at the Stoke games, Terresa enjoys exploring the countryside.

Demi Cooke
Family Support Practitioner

Demi has almost completed her BA Hons Childhood and Youth Professional studies with the University of Chester and has over 5 years of experience working within Early years.

Demi has a passion for supporting children with SEND because she has a little brother who has a diagnosis of additional needs. In her free time Demi enjoys going for walks with her sausage dog!

Ann Ely
Domestic Assistant

Ann is our lovely Domestic Assistant, she ensures the Centre is kept to the highest level of hygiene standards each week.

Ann has the kindest of hearts. Before working at the Centre she often volunteered at our events. Ann has the funniest of stories and often sends the team laughing all the way home.

Jackie Barker
Administrator

Jackie is a familiar face to our parents and visitors as has worked at Peter Pan for many years and is most people’s first point of contact with us as she manages our reception. Previously she worked at a school and she has a wealth of administration experience which she uses to support both the early years and fundraising teams here at the Centre.

Volunteers
Claire
Stay and Play Volunteer

“Peter Pan has always had a special place in my heart from when they supported me and my family when my son attended at the age of one.  It gave me the opportunity to meet other families who were in similar situations, and the support that we received from the team was so positive and nothing was ever too much trouble, it made such a big difference to our journey.

My son left to go to school when he was 4 and now, I have the amazing opportunity to volunteer with the team, to help to give other families the support that made such a difference to us.”

Andrea
Charity Admin Volunteer

Andrea has been volunteering at the Peter Pan Centre since 2023 and helps with fundraising and charity administration. Andrea says, “I wanted to volunteer for a charity and as Peter Pan is a charity very close to my heart, I am really pleased to be able to use my spare time to help others.”

Julie
Early Years Volunteer

Julie has been a volunteer at the Peter Pan Centre for 11 years and enjoys it immensely. Julie says “The staff are super friendly, kind and helpful and I get a lot of satisfaction from my time spent there”.

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Every £1 makes a huge difference!