President & Founder

Gill has had many years of experience working as a Speech and Language Therapist, in a variety of settings, including acute, rehab and community, where her special interest has always been in people with aphasia. Inspired and encouraged by those people and their families she founded Dyscover in 1994. Her belief is that the person with aphasia benefits from different types of support at different stages of their journey and that a structured programme of support fulfils those needs. Gill has been humbled to receive Awards for her work including an MBE, Honours of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), the Robin Tavistock Award 2021 and Surrey’s Millennium Award for Achievement.

She is proud to have been part of Dyscover’s development over the years and has worked with some amazing people along the way. As President she now enjoys her role as a mentor as well as supporting activities and events.

Head of Fundraising

Jo has been working in the voluntary sector for over 14 years, including TALK, another aphasia charity. and Orchid, a national male cancer charity. She brings to Dyscover her broad knowledge of fundraising and marketing: she is very much looking forward to developing her role as Head of Fundraising.

Outside of her Dyscover life, she loves walking her Bichon Frise ‘Monty’ , enjoys live music and going to the theatre.

Service manager and Lead Speech and Language Therapist (SLT)

Julie joined Dyscover in October 2023, following more than 25 years of experience as a Speech and Language therapist, working across various sectors in the NHS, most recently as the Clinical Lead SLT for the community neurological rehabilitation team in Epsom, Surrey. She enjoys supporting the very dedicated team, overseeing the online and face to face groups as well as continuing to develop the service to reach more people with aphasia. She meets regularly with professional network groups and continues to build partnerships with potential referrers to signpost Dyscover’s important role in the recovery pathway for people with aphasia.

Speech and Language Therapist

Maggie Stapleton is a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist who runs several of our in-person programmes and delivers training to volunteers, sharing her knowledge and experience in supporting people with aphasia in a group setting. She particularly likes to get to know group members to identify person-centred support and enjoys working in team environments.

Maggie spent 10 years working in the NHS, in a range of different settings including inpatient and community services. On leaving the NHS, she worked independently and for a private neuro-rehabilitation company, helping clients to identify and achieve their goals. Prior to these roles Maggie had careers in teaching modern foreign languages and international PR in broadcasting.

Speech and Language Therapist

Emma is a Speech and Language Therapist who has over a decade of experience working in, inpatient neuro rehabilitation, providing specialist assessment and therapy to those with complex needs post stroke or brain injury. She has always been particularly interested in aphasia, keen to tailor support and encourage people with aphasia and those around them to recognise their communication competence to help them confidently engage in varied and meaningful interactions.

Emma works part time at Dyscover and part time as an independent SLT in the community.

Principal Speech & Language Therapist and Primary Progressive Aphasia Lead

Rosemary is Dyscover’s Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) Specialist. In 2022 after 12 years in a management and leadership role at Dyscover, she decided to return to clinical work and now leads the charity’s service for people living with aphasia as a deteriorating condition.

Rosemary has more than 30 years’ experience as a Speech and Language Therapist and has particular interest and expertise in working with couples and small groups, helping them to adjust to and manage their aphasia. She also enjoys delivering education and training in the field of aphasia, often co presenting with Dyscover’s Aphasia Ambassadors.

She regularly contributes to research and professional network groups. She is part of the organising committee of the UK Speech and Language Therapists in PPA network group as well as a founder member of the international network.

Office Manager

Shirley is an experienced Office Manager and has worked in key administration management roles across different sectors. Shirley’s background in medical and corporate brings to Dyscover a wealth of knowledge and a “can do” attitude. Her passion for wanting to always offer a high-level service and find a resolution to any given situation has been her driving force throughout her career. Her mantra is “Communication is Key”!

Service Co-ordinator and Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

Suzanne is our proficient Service Coordinator. She is experienced in working with people with aphasia both online and face-to-face. Alongside the groups she is involved with, she efficiently co-ordinates the new referrals to Dyscover, working closely with our SLTs to introduce new beneficiaries to appropriate services.

Suzanne specialises in developing our Challenge Programme. This includes a range of accessible, co-designed sporting, creative and social opportunities and forms an important and unique part of our participatory focused service. Her background in Marketing led to involvement with CSR projects, which now serve her well when working collaboratively with a range of providers and partnerships which play a part in the delivery of the Challenge programme.

Speech & Language Therapy Assistant and Ambassadors Co-ordinator

Experienced SLT assistant, Caroline, supports several of our in-person and on-line groups, supporting members to communicate in a group environment. Caroline’s previous background in book publishing has come in useful when preparing clear and easily accessible topic resources to support structured group conversations. Caroline also co-ordinates the Aphasia Ambassador Group and enjoys providing opportunities for beneficiaries to participate and grow in communication skills and confidence as she organises awareness raising presentations in the local community and ‘patient led’ training.

Volunteer and Community Fundraising Co-ordinator

Administrator

Jane had been volunteering with one of our groups when the opportunity arose to apply for our Administrators role. Jane works closely with our Office Manager supporting much of the day-to-day administration. Jane has a keen eye for detail and enjoys helping with conversation and communication. She has a special interest in dementia and is one of our PPA volunteers too. In her spare time, she enjoys baking cakes, so as you might imagine a very popular member of our small, part-time team!

Freelance Bookkeeper

Christine is a qualified, freelance bookkeeper and has been working with Dyscover for over 10 years. She is responsible for staff payroll, paying invoices and processing money coming into Dyscover. She also manages Gift Aid for Dyscover and helps our Treasurer with the preparation of the annual accounts. Christine’s husband, Jim is a volunteer for Dyscover and when not working they can be found playing in their band or climbing the Lake District fells!

Speech and Language Therapist Facilitator

Barbara is a speech and language therapist with a special interest in aphasia. She has been supporting Zoom groups at Dyscover since January 2022, including two cohorts of a “living well with aphasia” course for the Irish Heart Foundation. She has also supported Rosemary in running an in-person group for people with PPA and their families. Barbara previously worked across the NHS stroke pathway in Liverpool and as part of a neuro-rehab team in Brixton.

Before changing careers to speech therapy, Barbara worked for an independent poetry press and then as an editor of English language teaching courses. She lived in Spain for about seven years and enjoys learning foreign languages.

As a speech and language therapist, Barbara enjoys supporting people with aphasia and their families to lead richer, more fulfilling lives, and believes that aphasia groups play an important part in that journey.

Chair of Trustees

Roger joined Dyscover as a Trustee in early 2023. Having retired in 2020 after 40 years in the insurance and financial services sectors, Roger was introduced to Dyscover by our former Chair of Trustees, John. After an initial winding down phase of retirement, Roger was keen to become involved in the Third Sector and was attracted by John’s passion and the crucial role Dyscover plays in the community in support of people with aphasia.

As a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, Roger brings extensive financial and management experience in support of Dyscover’s fundraising activities and financial management. During a 40 year career with Legal & General and Lloyd’s of London Roger has worked in the areas of financial planning, finance transformation, operations, reporting, audit and risk management, and mergers and acquisitions.

Trustee and Treasurer

Stuart joined Dyscover as a Trustee and Treasurer in 2018 and is responsible for the preparation of all the internal financial information for the Management Board together with the financial information required for all external reporting. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and his professional career comprised over 30 years at KPMG, the last 18 years as a partner.

He had extensive experience in the UK and overseas of audit, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate finance work with a range of clients in the financial, leisure and entertainment sectors. Since retiring from KPMG in 2002 he has been fully involved as a Treasurer in the charity sector including over 10 years with St John Ambulance together with acting as Trustee for several local charities.

Trustee and Company Secretary

Originally from Germany, Achim has spent over 30 years living in the UK and worked in banking both here and abroad. Now that he is retired, he is very pleased to be able to use his experience to support Dyscover as a Trustee and Company Secretary. Responsible for Risk Management, Data Protection, Insurance and Governance he is happy to support Dyscover and the “wonderful work they do”. Achim also supports our Community Fundraising Committee and will often be found supporting events, taking part in sponsored challenges or organising quiz teams!

Trustee

Rosa retired in September 2018 after 40 years of working in the NHS working as an Adult Speech and Language Therapist. She worked in a variety of clinical settings and was a service manager working in Surrey. On retirement Rosa joined the board of Trustees at Dyscover bringing her experience of working in Surrey, leading teams, and managing partnerships with her.

Rosa also sits on the Marketing committee, is a Clinical Supervisor for some members of the Speech and Language Team and is our Deputy Safeguarding Lead.

Trustee

Barry has been married for over 45 years and has 4 children and 4 grandchildren with whom he enjoys spending quality time with. He likes all sports but is very passionate about golf. His professional background was in the construction industry where he ran a number of businesses for 30 years. Barry had his stroke in 2011 and has aphasia. He was introduced to Dyscover in 2012 and has been a Member and Volunteer ever since. Barry was thrilled to be approached about becoming a trustee enabling him to continue to play an active role in shaping the future of Dyscover.

“When I first stepped through the doors of Dyscover, I was anxious and lacked confidence about my life and future after the stroke. Within a short period of time, the professional support and welcoming atmosphere I received put my mind at ease. By becoming a trustee with aphasia, I am proud to be able to assist with supporting the members along the same journey that I have been on.”

Trustee

Alison was first introduced to Dyscover at her works Volunteering Open Day, there were a couple of charities close to her heart, but on the day, Alison offered to help Dyscover with their 30th Anniversary Charity Ball planning.

Alison has worked in marketing for over 30 years, across various industries and currently works full time as a Sponsorship Manager.  Soon after presenting her charity ball proposal to the other trustees, Alison applied to join the Board of Trustees and is now part of the Dyscover team.   

Trustee

Having firstly trained and practiced as a solicitor, Vanessa’s second career in teaching and education has included headships, education consultancy and Ofsted. Currently Chief Inspector and CEO of the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Vanessa has served on a school governing body as both foundation and parent governor, including chairing the governors’ personnel committee. She has non-executive director experience as a trustee of a national charity.

Vanessa joined the Board of Trustees in November 2023 and has personal experience supporting a family member with primary progressive aphasia. She hopes to bring her expertise in both leadership and lived experience to Dyscover, whose work she values greatly.

Patron

The Lady Fellowes of West Stafford LVO is Dyscover’s silent Patron. Many years ago, when visiting Dyscover during Remembrance Week (in her capacity as Lady Emma Kitchener) she shared her fascinating WW1 family history. In addition, her family background, connecting with our beneficiaries through her experiences of Stroke. She shares a parallel outlook with Dyscover regarding, breaking down the barriers people with aphasia face. We are grateful for the support she can offer.