Our People

Manager of Stay Up Late’s Gig Buddies project. She also volunteers to provide support and advocacy for people in immigration detention. In the past she has been a Personal Assistant for different people with disabilities, worked with young people on inclusive film and arts projects and written online educational materials about HIV and AIDS. Interested in any innovative ways to promote social inclusion!

Lecturer in Inclusive Arts at Brighton University. She coordinates The Rockets artists group, a collaborative collective of artists with and without learning disabilities, and is involved with a wide range of community organisations in the South East.

Daniel is a Chartered Accountant who currently works for Technetix Group Limited as the Group Commercial Accountant. He has over 10 years experience in accounting working mainly with SME but some larger organisations such as The Body Shop International.

National Research Officer for Cafcass: the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. He is a former Director of a national grant giving trust, has a Ph. D in social policy from LSE and has worked in social work and social care for 40 years. Is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex.Has a special interest in the training of Appropriate Adults for adults with learning disabilities who are arrested and has published research articles and good practice guides on this.

National arts development manager for Mencap. He has managed a range of community projects, worked as a freelance consultant for Arts Council, England, and local authorities, and recently completed a major cultural Olympiad dance project in Birmingham. His work at Mencap involves liaising with government and major arts organisations on inclusion, policy and practice, creating resources and managing projects.

Award winning documentary filmmaker whose films include  Heavy Load, which featured the birth of Stay Up Late. Jerry’s previous work has included many films about learning disability issues, often made in collaboration with service users, around topics such as housing, self-advocacy, life stories, support, direct payments, learning disability history and mental health. Jerry previously worked around media advocacy for people with learning disabilities for the charity Mental Health Media, and is chair of youth media charity Hi8us South.

Max helps businesses, non-profit and community organisations create more collaborative, connected and purposeful ways of working. By day he does this as a consultant at NixonMcInnes and in his spare time through supporting and advising social innovation projects like CityCamp Brighton and the Brightoneers. All that said, as a dad of a lovely toddler, the idea of spare time feels like a bit of a laugh. If you give him a soapbox, he’ll stand on it and talk very, very enthusiastically about how we need to help people create positive change.

Neil is passionate about social enterprise and is involved in developing and running a number of social enterprises in Brighton. He is the chair of two Brighton based charities, alongside being a trustee of two other local charities. Neil offer’s business advice and coaching within the community and voluntary sector, and he also run’s a private counselling and supervision practice. He has many years experience in the areas of Mental Health and Learning Disability services, and he is passionate about
campaigning for great equality and justice in these fields.

Paul is the Service User Involvement Coordinator for Southdown Housing Association, a not-for-profits supported housing provider in Sussex. Paul was bass player with Heavy Load (and band manager) and a founder of Stay Up late. Paul is also a co-creator of The Q-Kit Quality Testing Tool and passionate about reducing social isolation and inequalities. He is also a dad, and has quite nerdish tendancies around local history and music.

Vicar of St Barnabas, Bethnal Green and chaplain to Raines Foundation school. An Anglican priest who has been working in the East End of London for nearly 20 years. Has been a trustee for the Kipper Project, serving homeless young people in East London, and a founder member of the U-Turn Project which works with street sex workers and vulnerable women. Has also chaired Unleash (church action on homelessness)

A training and development consultant for East Sussex County Council with specialism in children’s social care. Teresa has worked with both children and adults with learning disabilities in social care environments. Teresa has a personal interest in promoting social inclusion for people with learning disabilities

Programme Director of Map Squad in East London and a founder of Bubble Club, an events business based in Tower Hamlets which is ran by adults with learning disabilities. Tina’s earlier background is in performance theatre and training.

Chief Executive Officer of services for Elfrida, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, and trustee of Community Living magazine