I’m Paul Kelly, currently secretary to the Compass Board of Trustees.  I became a trustee in October 2021 after many years working for statutory agencies.  With a MA in applied social studies. I was destined for either social work or the probation service.  My eight years working for social services departments mainly featured community orientated work with disadvantaged groups, and then in a senior role as a child safeguarding specialist. Having moved to probation, I spent 23 years in a variety of practitioner and management roles, including pioneering work on disability equality, staff development and youth justice.

In 2003, I went freelance and my work has included project managing a national development programme for black and disabled managers, leading regional multidisciplinary conferences and training; research studies on performance management and appraisal; aiming high for disabled children and services for young people in transition.

First hand experience of the value of counselling brought me to Compass and am very pleased to contribute what I can to its continuing value and success.  But above all else what matters to me is my love and commitment for my two daughters and six grandchildren.

I am currently Interim Chair of the Board for Compass. I have many years of experience as a clinically qualified commissioner to improve services for people with mental health problems, intellectual disabilities and autism.   I have worked across government departments, the NHS, public health, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations.

In addition to my professional role, I have also been actively involved in the voluntary sector as a long-serving trustee of charities like the Liverpool & Sefton YMCA, the Kindfulness Cafe and the SPARC charity. As both a commisioner and in my role as a volunteer, my prefered working style is to operate across a range of organisations and professions, putting the user of services at the centre and in control of all planning and delivery.

After graduating as a qualified nurse in intellectual disabilities, mental health and adult nursing, my first role was running a small group home in Liverpool supporting adults with intellectual disabilities to become as independent as possible after spending years in long stay institutions. This wonderful early experience provided the foundations for all my work and belief in the power of contructive partnerships to enable people to live their lives in the way they want.

I was delighted to be appointed to the role of Trustee in October 2021, and I am excited to be working alongside Compass Counselling because it is a fantastic charity offering a much needed local service.  I began my counselling studies in 1998 and still apply some of my learning and person-centreed approaches both to everyday life and the workplace.

I currently work for a Northwest based charity that supports adults with a Learning Disability or a Mental Health diagnosis.  During my career I have held several positions in Adult Health and Social Care, Education, and long stay hospitals.   I am passionate about ensuring people have the very best opportunities available.

My interests are technology and how it can enhance life experiences for us all, along with reading the occasional book. My free time is spent swimming or cycling.

I am really excited to have joined Compass at a time when services such as those offered by the charity are in desperate short supply.  I believe that now, more than ever, our communities need this invaluable support as such significant and historical events have unfoled over the past few years causing lots of uncertainty, anxiety and stress.

My experience is quite varied having started my career in accountancy and moving to procurement and contract management via some project management in a range of organisations.  I have worked in the public sector such as the NHS and Local Authorities as well as Financial Services, Charities and Retail.

I have supported this experience with qualifying in accountancy via the AAT ( Association of Accounting Technicians) , Prince 2 (Project Management ), LLB (Hons) (Law Degree) and CIPS ( Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply).

In my free time ( not a lot of it) my interests are knitting ( yes knitting, I find it therapeutic), running and baking.  I am also a lover of roller coasters and watching a good box set! I look forward to suporting Compass move forwards and grow.