Our team
Our team is made up of a small staff team and a number of volunteers who help us carry out our work and make up our Board of Trustees.
Meet our Board of Trustees
Carol Nevison, Chair
Carol joined Heathwatch after retiring from 30 years’ service in the voluntary sector in roles including Assistant Programme Director at Save the Children and Engagement Manager at MacMillan Cancer Support. She has worked to deliver services for children living in poverty, older people experiencing loneliness and social isolation and more recently people having lived experience of cancer. Carol is particularly passionate about volunteering and how it helps services and individuals.
Jackie Doughty, Treasurer
Jackie worked in social work for over 30 years and was Head of Children’s Services for North Tyneside Council and part of the first Sure Start Unit, with responsibility for policy development and implementation of this flagship programme.
She later became regional director for Government Office North East, Department for Children, Schools and Families, supporting local authorities and partners to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. Before retiring Jackie worked with Autism Alliance UK.
Peter Berrie
Peter has recently retired from a 39 year career during which he developed expertise in technology, business analysis and process improvement. He also spent a lot of time building, leading and sustaining teams.
He spent most of his childhood in Africa and most of his working life in other parts of England and has lived in Monkseaton since 2005. He’s had a long interest in supporting the local community, which has led him to volunteer as a trustee for two other local charities and to serve as a Rotarian some years ago. He’s currently serving as our Volunteer Link trustee to assist in the effective recruitment and development of our fabulous team of volunteers.
In his own time, Peter’s an enthusiastic family historian and a deep bass singer with 4 local choirs. He loves puzzles, troubleshooting and anything that involves analytical thinking. He adores his border collie Patch and a decent latte – and his wife of course!
Paul Greenway
Paul has spent his working life and retirement trying to make a positive difference to the community especially vulnerable children and young people and their families. Starting as a teacher Paul became a headteacher of an all age special school, a senior schools improvement officer, an assistant director of education and an assistant director of a children’s service. Paul’s last post was joint with the NHS as a director of children’s commissioning in a city in the north west.
Since retiring Paul has been a school governor, a trustee of two local charities and a listening volunteer, trustee and deputy director of the local branch of the Samaritans. He is also a carer. Paul hopes that by joining Healthwatch North Tyneside as a trustee and volunteer he can continue to strive to make a difference.
Paula McCormack
Paula is a trained counsellor and clinical hypnotherapist with 30+ years’ experience of helping communities embrace and encourage their children and young people.
She has been the Executive Lead at Wallsend Children’s Community for the past 5 years and is passionate about community, being utterly inspired by our communities and their resilience.
David Slater
David was a Senior Civil Servant, working on Employment, Training, Social Security and computer systems. He was responsible for European programmes and business support at Government Office North East, before moving on to South Tyneside and Newcastle Councils, where he led regeneration, corporate services and neighbourhood services.
Since taking early retirement, he has been a volunteer and charity Trustee. He chaired an arts company, a mental health charity and a law centre, and is currently a trustee of a community charity in Meadow Well. He is also active with Whitley Bay u3a as learner, group leader and chair.
David has lived in Whitley Bay for nearly 30 years. He enjoys music, film, walking and has run a monthly poetry group for the past decade.
Lyndsay Yarde
Lyndsay has lived in North Tyneside for more than 50 years and has recently retired from a career as a freelance project manager and trainer.
Working mainly with voluntary sector organisations, including several local Healthwatch, she has managed research projects, recruited and supported volunteers and has trained staff, volunteers, trustees and stakeholders.
Earlier, Lyndsay worked for North Tyneside Council where her focus was on creating opportunities for families, children and young people. Whilst at NTC she undertook two long term secondments - firstly to Churches Acting Together where she set up a Supported Lodgings scheme for homeless young people and, later, she spent five years with Sure Start working on the development of local Children’s Centres.
Maxine Ulrich Houston
Maxine is originally from the North East and now lives in Whitley Bay but she has moved home a lot, including to Turkey and Germany.
She joined Healthwatch after 20+years working for Northumbria then Durham University, mainly looking at programmes to tackle unemployment, to start and grow businesses, and to improve health and social care.
Her most recent project looked at how best to support volunteers and to improve the resilience of charities and social enterprises. Maxine’s a big believer that capturing impact is critical, not just for funders and researchers, but for organisations, to make the most of what they do, helping them to learn and plan. She also volunteers with a local wildlife group.
Paul McKelvie
Paul started his working life as an engineering apprentice but moved to working with people soon after completing his apprenticeship.
Qualifying as a social worker in 1980, he has worked within the NHS, local authorities, voluntary, independent and private sectors for more than 40 years.
Paul is largely retired but retains his professional registration and does a small amount of work chairing an advisory panel for an independent fostering agency.
He has governance experience, having chaired sub-committees of the local safeguarding board and as a governor of a large high school in the borough.
A proud resident of North Tyneside for the last 45 years, Paul hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the overall health and wellbeing of our community.
As a social worker he is passionate about good outcomes for children and their families and as a grandfather-of-five he is equally passionate about their future.
As a lifelong ‘Toon’ fan he also hopes for the same for Newcastle United!
Paul Jones, Director
Email:p.jones@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Paul has a strong understanding of the voluntary and community sector and the importance of listening to service users from his 16 years with the Big Lottery Fund, where he headed up their outreach and local funding teams across England. He’s been a carer for 26 years and has experience of navigating the complexities of health and social care services.
He lives in Cullercoats and is a volunteer in a number of local conservation groups at the coast. He loves hiking and cycling to work.
Helen Bedford, Engagement and Insight Officer
Email:h.bedford@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Helen joined the Healthwatch team in October 2019 as Engagement and Insight Officer. She works mainly in the area of social care.
Amanda Graydon, Volunteer and Engagement Coordinator
Email:a.graydon@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Amanda is responsible for volunteering within Healthwatch and ensuring that volunteers’ experience of supporting Healthwatch is both positive and enriching. Amanda also shares responsibility for our public engagements and making sure that our reach is as wide as possible.
Amanda’s background has always been community and voluntary orientated, from working with inner city youth in the USA to supporting the homeless and mentally ill in Oxford. As a social worker, Amanda worked in a variety of settings supporting young people, running North Tyneside Council’s Mentor Project and then supporting the Council’s Early Help process. Amanda joined Healthwatch in 2018 and thoroughly enjoys the challenges of navigating the health and social care systems, along with the more familiar role of working with volunteers.
Tracey Hindmarch, Operations Coordinator
Email:t.hindmarch@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Tracey is responsible for the operations of Healthwatch North Tyneside and oversees the work of the communications, engagement and administration officers within the team.
While her professional background is in finance, she is passionate about mental health and has recently completed her psychology degree as a mature student.
Mary Low, Engagement and Insight Officer
Email:m.low@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Mary has been working with the Healthwatch team for over three years, initially as a volunteer then as an employee. During this time, she has worked to gain insight into people’s experiences of many local services, including GPs, dentists, pharmacies and maternity services. This has enabled local commissioners and providers to improve their service by taking into account the needs of local residents.
Mary also identified gaps in support around menopause, which providers are currently working on addressing.
Kirstie Cunliffe, Involvement and Insight Officer
Email:k.cunliffe@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 263 5321
Kirstie joined Healthwatch in April 2026. With a background in health and social care, she began her career supporting adults with learning disabilities, before gaining experience across social care and education. She later retrained in infant feeding before moving into the VCSE sector.
Kirstie is passionate about supporting and advocating for people to access the care and services they need. Outside of work, she enjoys sport and is an avid supporter of both the men’s and women’s Newcastle United teams.
Katy Parkinson, Business Support Officer
Email:k.parkinson@hwnt.co.uk
Telephone:0191 2635321
Katy joined the Healthwatch team in July 2025 as the Business Support Officer. She is responsible for the day-to-day administration of Healthwatch North Tyneside and the North East and North Cumbria Network. Her professional background is mainly in administration within universities.
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