Serving the people of Bradford, Harrogate, Selby and Craven Districts
Heidi Watson is the Chief Executive Officer of Carers’ Resource, a post she took up in April 2024.
She has operated at CEO or Director level in charities or private sector organisations delivering social projects for over 20 years.
This includes strategic oversight and management of various national and local health and support worker teams to assist and empower children and adults with congenital health conditions/disabilities and their unpaid carers.
Her experience also includes running contracts and projects to assist long term unemployed people to return to sustainable work and ex-offenders to rehabilitate.
She has significant experience of working closely with a range of local authorities, national government departments and NHS teams.
Julie Duerden has gained vast experience in developing and implementing services for vulnerable people in her previous roles in the NHS, DWP, local government and over 20 years in several VCFS organisations.
As a former CEO and a Carer Centre manager she has a wealth of knowledge of the challenges faced both for the individual and the service providers.
Julie is fully committed to providing high-quality services in the right way at the right time for the individual.
Rachel Waddington joined Carers’ Resource in 2001 and is now the Interim Head of Operations for Bradford District, overseeing services to unpaid carers across the district as well as support to vulnerable people recently discharged from hospital.
Since joining Carers’ Resource, Rachel has held several roles, including the initial development project that paved the way for wider services to be delivered by Carers’ Resource within Bradford District. She is particularly keen to see that unpaid carers are identified early in their caring journey and recognised for their key role at the centre of support of those with care needs.
Rachel is also a member of the Governing Body of a primary school.
Helen Prince is the Head of Young Carers and Families, with responsibility for delivering and expanding our services to support young carers and parents of children with disabilities.
Having previously worked in the Public Health department of Newcastle University, she joined Carers’ Resource in 2005 as a young carer mentor and has had various roles within the team since then, balancing work life with caring for her autistic son.
Helen is passionate about providing high-quality support to families through a thriving voluntary sector. As an active member of Local Safeguarding Partnerships and multi-agency strategic networking groups, she helps to keep families affected by disability, illness and substance misuse considered as a local priority. She is particularly interested in emotional health and finding ways to increase carers’ resilience.
Sam Dawson, Head of Care, joined Carers’ Resource in 2013 when Crossroads Care merged with the organisation. Prior to joining, she worked in Local Authority statutory services for 16 years, providing management support across a diverse team.
Sam has experience with performance management, embedding and supporting new ways of working, re-enablement, delayed discharges and working with health and community teams. She is skilled in assessments, care support planning, safeguarding, dementia and risk management, team building and budget management.
BA (Hons) Business Management degree, Certificate in Management, Diploma in Management, NVQ 2 and Level 5 Registered Managers Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Sam is passionate about delivering a high-quality person-centred service to each individual, meeting their aspirations and needs and developing the service to be flexible through a highly qualified dedicated team. Her aim is to develop a strong brand by ensuring that minimum operational standards are being met, coupled with inspiring best practices, focusing on performance and quality.
Sam is very proud to lead her team of dedicated compassionate support workers and looks forward to the future challenges within the changing environment and needs of our customers.
Jenny Cornish joined Carers’ Resource in 2021, having worked in the field of media and communications for 20 years. She started her working life in journalism, as a writer and editor for local, regional and national media companies including ITV and Mirror Online.
Jenny was chief political reporter at the Leicester Mercury before becoming a freelancer, during which time she worked as a news production editor for Mirror Online, and as a writer for ITV’s marketing team. She also wrote features for national and regional magazines and newspapers, and was a copywriter and editor for local and national PR companies, media and marketing agencies. She worked as Communications Officer for Craven District Council for six years.
