Meet the staff at Home-Start Wandsworth
Michelle Cook, Director
Michelle has spent the last two decades working in the charity sector, designing, managing and delivering services that offer frontline support and information. Having started out as a counsellor and frontline adviser, Michelle is people oriented and passionate about using her skills and energy to empower anyone seeking support. Michelle has worked in charity development in the addiction, social care, youth and bereavement sectors and more recently in family support.
Michelle was raised locally and came to Home-Start Wandsworth wishing to direct her skills towards supporting the community she grew up in.
Contact Michelle: 07909 726474, director@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Kelly Samuel, Senior Coordinator
Kelly joined Home-Start Wandsworth when it was still run from Sue Winter’s (our founder) kitchen table in 2010. She has a wealth of experience supporting families across Wandsworth, and also leads delivery of our volunteer training course. She previously worked in special education needs in schools. Kelly has lived and worked in Wandsworth borough her entire life.
Contact Kelly: 07500 805912, kelly@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Carey Davies, Family Groups Coordinator
Carey has been working with Home-Start Wandsworth since 2013 as our administrator. She is now our coordinator of Family Hubs, developing new programmes for our families providing classes ranging from yoga, baby massage, and budgeting to name a few. She also runs regular cookery sessions and family outings over the holidays. Carey’s background is in fashion; she ran a fashion designer’s busy office for 8 years and before that had her own fashion shop in Fulham for 8 years.
Contact Carey: 07825 917619, carey@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Clare Wilson, Assistant Family Groups Coordinator
Clare was a Home-Start Wandsworth Volunteer before joining the staff team as a Family Hubs Coordinator, where she works with Carey to develop and deliver a broad range of activities and programmes for our families. Her professional background is in project management and employee engagement where she worked with a wide range of organisations from supermarkets to the NHS. She has lived in Wandsworth for over 25 years and since having children has been a passionate and active volunteer involved in many school and community projects. In her spare time, Clare loves the great outdoors and making the most of all that London has to offer.
Contact Clare: 07436 923718, clare@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Sarah Maher, Bump to Baby Coordinator
Sarah’s background is in general nursing, midwifery and health visiting. She was a Home-Start home-visiting volunteer for over 4 years and is qualified to teach mental health first aid to new volunteers. Sarah became a trustee in 2016, bringing her health visiting and mental health expertise to the board. She has now taken on the role of coordinating the Bump to Baby programme.
Contact Sarah: 07825 917344, sarah@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Jenny Price, Coordinator
Jenny trained as a Home-Start Wandsworth volunteer before joining the office team. Her previous experience is in digital media and cultural heritage, having worked in London galleries and museums. After 3 years working as the Home-Start Administrator, Jenny now works directly with families in her role as Coordinator. Jenny has a young family and is an active member of the community, volunteering at school and in local organisations.
Contact Jenny: 07762 743158, jenny@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Charline Thompson, Coordinator
Charline is a parenting and child development specialist who has been volunteering and working across the Wandsworth borough for over 10 years. Formerly an outreach worker in a local children’s centre, she has a vast amount of experience working with families and a wealth of information on parenting programmes, group work and engaging with families with a wide range of issues. She recently completed her MSc in Child Psychology. She is a parent to 5 children and a keen football supporter.
Contact Charline: 07584 024624, charline@homestartwandsworth.co.uk
Melissa Pike, Communications and Fundraising Officer
Melissa has over fifteen years experience working in communication agencies and is passionate about supporting and empowering parents in the local community. She is a local mum and an active committee member on her son’s school’s PTA, organising events and raising money for the school. In her spare-time she runs baby massage courses and has spent the last three years studying parent education with NCT college.
Contact Melissa: melissa@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Vanessa Richards, Volunteer Development Officer
Vanessa has worked in the voluntary and public sector for over 20 years in numerous roles. Her most recent role was in Birmingham, where she managed a peer support charity for people who lived with HIV. Other areas of work include managing a citywide drug and alcohol service, outreach, youth work and managing stenographer’s (court reporters) for a large firm in London.
In her spare time she enjoys eating Bebeto’s pencil sweets, organising community focused events and working with young people. One of her most memorable achievements is organising a fundraising event in order to travel to Haiti in 2012 and work with children and young people, who survived the 2010 earthquake.
Contact Vanessa: vanessa@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Ameena Keekeebhai, Administrator (On maternity leave)
Ameena joined Home-Start Wandsworth as the Administrator in June 2021 after graduating from Queen Mary University of London. She is passionate about working with families and children and has over 8 years of experience tutoring children of all ages in Maths and English, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. During lockdown, Ameena spent her time volunteering as a Check In and Chat Responder with the NHS Volunteer Responders, offering telephone support to individuals who were isolating to combat loneliness. Ameena loves cooking and exploring various parts of London!
Contact Ameena: ameena@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
Martineé Reid, Administrator (Maternity cover)
Martineé joins the Home-Start Wandsworth team as Business Support Administrator, having worked in the Education/Special Educational Needs sector for over 5 years. Martineé has a background in PR and communications, working on both client and agency side. She previously had the pleasure of working from a top-secret underground bunker and onboard a well-known Royal Navy Ship. Martineé prides herself on being well versed in the Wandsworth borough bus routes.
Contact Martineé: 07704482632 martinee@homestartwandsworth.org.uk
