Summary 

For many years, I have worked with a wonderful team to make the lives of many disadvantaged individuals better. I am the CEO and Founder of Synolos, which is a social enterprise founded with little money and great personal risk and expense that has helped over 600 individuals get closer to employment since 2010. I built Synolos by demonstrating that you can do a lot with a little if you are creative, socially conscious, financially prudent, and willing to take calculated risks. With my experience in fiscal responsibility, I know that with the resources and influence that an MP possesses, I could help improve the lives of all who live in West Oxfordshire. I have created and led a team that has done a lot with not a lot. It started as an idea that turned into a plan. A leap of faith was taken, and a journey that changed the lives of many in West Oxfordshire began and is still moving forward, growing, and fulfilling its calling for the people of West Oxfordshire.

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2002-2006

In 2002, I started working at Abingdon and Witney College, splitting my time between the Abingdon and Witney campuses. I would go on and become the course leader for construction. However, as time went on, I developed a deep interest in behavior management and inspiring those who did not want to learn or who had had bad experiences in education and life. My underpinning beliefs, behavior management skills, and passion were formed at Abingdon and Witney College, which would take me on to create something special for the community of West Oxfordshire.

 

2006-2010: The wilderness years, preparation for something special in West Oxfordshire

In 2006, I was asked if I would like to help develop a vocational department at Meadowbrook College in Oxford. I would leave Abingdon and Witney College, and West Oxfordshire and go on to work with some of the most amazing young people in Oxfordshire who had many barriers to learning but had, for a number of reasons, been permanently excluded from school and often lost in the "system." I would work at Meadowbrook until 2010, within this time I learned a lot about disengagement and how some of the deep-rooted social issues hold back so many young people, and what we do isn't always the best for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Working at Meadowbrook College confirmed to me what I had already known: not all young people have the support they need, let alone deserve. Without this encouragement and guidance from family, friends, and professionals, the mind of a young person can be led astray or become disengaged. Untapped potential is a waste for the individual and the community as a whole and should not happen or be ignored.

 

I could see a need in West Oxfordshire to build something, as it was often overlooked and not deemed as a place of need. I felt I needed to do something for the young people struggling, but it needed to be outside of the normal educational norms established by society. It was time to put the skills, knowledge, and emotional intelligence I had gained over my 8 years of working in education to use. I had the experience of working with some of the most misunderstood and disengaged young people in Oxfordshire but also having the experience of running an educational service with little money and having to reach tight financial key performance indicators, I had an idea, a bold one but a risky one as it would change everything in my life and that of my family.

 

2010: The beginning of the return to West Oxfordshire

After working in Oxford for 4 years, I was longing to come back to West Oxfordshire and work in my hometown of Witney. At this time, we were still living with the fallout of the credit crunch, and unemployment among unskilled young people was high. We also just elected a Conservative/Liberal Democratic coalition government led by David Cameron with a mandate to reduce the country's deficit. Cuts to services were coming, and I believed that if nothing was done for some young people, we were heading for a lost generation of young people who would never have the chance for early employment experiences and could be lost to the endless cycles of unemployment and social disengagement.

 

May 2010: Confidence increased by a new Prime Minister

In May 2010, when I became David Cameron's first constituent to see him as Prime Minister, I pitched to him the need for a stronger skills-based curriculum at schools and that we were heading towards having a lost generation of young people at post-16 never gaining early experience of work due to unemployment levels at the time (post credit crunch). He would agree, and when I was ready, he contacted many people on my behalf to outline what I wanted to do. I will be forever grateful for his early encouragement, as it served as a confidence boost and a good foundation to start from.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the educational reforms that were formed by Michael Gove within the Cameron government have created a teach-by-exam structure, a narrowing of opportunities for young people to be creative and acquire subject depth outside of English and Maths. It is putting excessive pressure on schools, which only filters down to young people.

 

June 2010: The Start of an Award-Winning Social Enterprise

In mid-2010, I resigned from a stable job at Meadowbrook College to pursue an adventure of helping those struggling in life with the aim of helping them get closer to employment and making a positive place for themselves in the community they live in.

Within West Oxfordshire, the place I call home, I would go on to form a not-for-profit social enterprise called Synolos CIC that helps individuals identify and fulfill their potential.

With no start-up funding and using personal money, I would start with 7 kitted tool boxes in the back of my car supporting schools to start with. Synolos would have developed by 2022, having supported 600+ young people and working from a 6500-square-foot building in Stations Lane, Witney. Synolos has had an impact on skills-based alternative training, not just in West Oxfordshire but in Oxfordshire as a whole, winning Oxfordshire Business Awards in 2014.

I created an educational organisation that doesn't just deal with educational difficulties but also supports wider needs such as mental health and work skills; we even had a shop in Wesley Walk at one point as an experimental educational and training platform.

 

Aug 2010 - present day

Over the years, Synolos has created many projects for young people and has a strong reputation throughout Oxfordshire for supporting some of the most disadvantaged young people in Oxfordshire.   

 

We have built what many have described as a "mini college" that supports young people in gaining qualifications and experience of how to work, and for those who need it, support with mental health.

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Sep 2024 - New mental health service 

In September 2024, Synolos is also committed to opening a Synolos Community Wellbeing Center in West Oxfordshire to support the growing need for preventive mental health support. This will be built around a funding model and a concept that we call The 4 Corners of Community.

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2022

Encouraging community conversation

Group Facebook creator of The Voice of West Oxfordshire 

Click here 

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2024 - The journey continues 

Witney and surrounding towns and villages.... I am listening.

All voices in Witney and surrounding towns and villages. deserve to be heard, and I am listening. If elected, I will carry your voices with me to Westminster.  I pledge to be your mouthpiece in any way that I can, regardless of the outcome of the election. I stand for the people of Witney and surrounding towns and villages.

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