With professional backgrounds in Experiential Business and Education Training, Youth Justice, Youth Work and Theatre in Prisons, we combine our extensive experience to offer sustainable programmes that are active, experiential and tailored to the needs of your organisation.
Ade
I’m Ade and I founded Little Blackbird in 2022. Since starting out in the world of work post Graduation in 2006, I have worked extensively with individuals and groups of people from all walks of life, from CEOs of Businesses, to high-risk offenders in prison.
With many years of experience in supporting very vulnerable young people and their families, delivering interventions across schools, sports clubs, crime prevention and youth engagement initiatives, I learnt early on in my career that everybody has a unique set of challenges that impact on their ability and willingness to achieve – whatever that achievement or goal looks like to them. I pride myself my skills of connection and engagement, and meeting people with compassion and understanding.
In 2011, I began self employed work as an experiential business training consultant. I have extensive experience in designing and delivering business training programmes including Well-Being, Team Dynamics, Customer Services, Situational Leadership, and Emotional Intelligence. I am accredited to provide Mental Health First Aid, and qualified as a level 5 Coaching & Mentoring certificate (EoMCC Global).
As the lead facilitator for Little Blackbird and the host of our Podcast, Tackling it Together, I aim to educate and develop understanding around well-being and what it looks, sounds, and feels like. I can relate to the challenges we can encounter when striving to achieve and maintain positive well-being, which fundamentally drives my passion for helping others. I strongly believe in removing the stigma associated with mental health by assisting people to focus on improving their relationship with vulnerability to support personal development, improved resilience and sustainable change.
Away from Little Blackbird I’m a busy Dad to two young children. I spend as much time as possible outside, enjoying the great outdoors, walking and being in nature, even taking a cold water dip whenever the opportunity pops up! As a retired rugby player, I stay involved with the game as an juniors coach. Come rain or shine, on a Sunday morning you’ll find me volunteering my time at the local rugby club, giving back to the game that has given me so much. I’m a big believer in using Sport as a positive way to enhance well-being, and you will see that this is a common thread throughout many of our interventions.
When life happens and gets busy and stressful as it inevitably does, connecting with friends and family as much as possible keeps me feeling balanced. I’m a big people person – for me it is all about authentic connection. You can’t always convey what you do accurately (and do yourself justice!) by writing about the work you deliver, so, if you like the sound of the programmes we offer, please get in touch to hear more about Little Blackbird, our ethos, and our unique approach to Well-Being and Social Value.
Claire
I’m Claire and I co-founded Little Blackbird alongside Ade in 2022. With a professional background in Youth Justice and extensive experience in supporting those who have experienced significant trauma, I am passionate about advocating for young people, and championing their rights to fairness and inclusivity, developing projects and interventions that are genuinely impactful.
From 2006 I worked in the Youth Justice sector, starting my post university career as a keyworker for a crime prevention charity supporting children who were at risk of offending. From 2010 to 2023 I went on to work for local authority Youth Justice Services as a case manager where I had responsibility for supporting young people subject to Court orders which involved me assessing needs, managing risk, safety and well-being and planning and delivering interventions.
Over my career I have developed and delivered behaviour change interventions with hundreds of young people, including Serious Violence Reduction, Domestic Abuse, Sexually Harmful Behaviour, Exploitation, Substance Misuse and Well-Being. I have extensive safeguarding experience across community, care, secure and custodial settings and specialise in supporting young people who have experienced trauma.
As the lead for Programme Development at Little Blackbird, I am passionate about ensuring that our interventions are designed and created to be inclusive and impactful, advocating for under represented groups, and making meaningful, impactful interventions accessible for all.
With a passion for promoting equity for those who are often marginalised and “invisible” and supporting a developed understanding of the crucial link between poor attachment and limited engagement, my role at Little Blackbird involves making sure that opportunities to engage are individualised and realistic, providing the best chance for success. Our Education workshops and Social Impact initiatives in particular aim to challenge assumptions around what it really means to “engage”, ensuring that participation actually impacts positively on the person taking part.
We are not a tick box service – connection is at the absolute heart of all we do. We ensure that we practice and promote our core values – Courage, Compassion and Curiosity. From our education workshops in schools to leadership training in businesses, our focus is on improving our ability to demonstrate genuine empathy and understanding to support us to effectively communicate.
Away from work I am kept busy by our two young children. As a family we love nothing more than getting away in our tourer caravan, exploring new places and spending time in our happy place – Anglesey! We have recently added a new addition to our family – our gorgeous Labradoodle, Flossie, who has brought all of us (especially the children) so much joy and happiness.
As Little Blackbird continues to evolve and grow, we will maintain out passion and determination to ensure our approach contributes to a more equitable society, where opportunities for effective and impactful development and support are available and meaningful, moving away from the “one size fits all” approach to well-being. For more information on the interventions we offer, please get in touch!