Trustees
Nik Morgan - Chair of Trustees
Nik, originally from Ceredigion, returned to the area following his retirement having work as a primary school teacher, teacher for children with additional needs and ultimately managing the Communication and Autism Team (CAT) in Birmingham.
Tina Sherrington – Honorary Secretary
Passionate about the development and support of people with disabilities and having recently retired and moved to Ceredigion, Tina is excited to join DASH as a Trustee. Tina spent 10 years working for Social Services in the disability sector. 10 years self-employed followed by 20 years for a large financial organisation where her role was predominantly focused on the wellbeing of its employees. In particular her focus was on the support of employees in the workplace with disabilities and long term health conditions.
Andrew Moore – Honorary Treasurer
Andy retired to take on the challenge of a smallholding in Ceredigion after starting and running a small Accountancy practice with his wife, Mary, for 15 years after a career in finance and project management with the Royal Mail. Back in the early 1980s Andy worked as a life skills teacher for school leavers with special education needs and ended his career, locally, as a support worker, first in domiciliary care and then in a care home.
Eryl Bray
Eryl was one of the original DASH founding members. At the time she had recently moved to the area as a young Health Visitor and a group of parents of disabled children asked her to help them set up a self help group. During her Health visiting career she was always passionate about working with disabled children and supporting parents. As well as being a Health Visitor she trained as a Portage worker and Portage Supervisor working with developmentally delayed pre-school children and their parents. During this period she also wrote a bilingual “Guide for parent of disabled children in Ceredigion” outlining what help and benefits were available locally and nationally. In 1991 Eryl was appointed as Manager of Tim Plant Anabl which was then called Tim Cymorth Teuluol/ Family Support Team. The team was one of the first multiagency key worker teams in Wales and was based on research undertaken by Bangor University. Eryl is now retired and has the time yet again to work with DASH as a Trustee.
Gareth Lloyd James
Gareth is the father of a daughter who has benefited greatly from DASH support for many years now. He lives with his family in the Aberystwyth area where he has been a primary teacher for twenty years.
Cathy McKenzie
Cathy worked for over 20 years as an Adult/Paediatric nurse in Ceredigion and Powys. For 15 of those years she worked with children with disabilities and their families in the community. For some of that time Cathy was based in TPA in Aberystwyth and worked closely with DASH.
Gemma Light
Gemma has spent most of her life in mid-Wales and is currently a Grants Manager for the Welsh Government. Prior to joining the civil service, she worked for many years at the Centre for Alternative Technology and then the Montgomeryshire Family Crisis Centre, a charity that supports all victims of domestic abuse. Gemma has always volunteered in her spare time having previously been a trustee for 2 other mid-Wales based organisations (Hazina and Machynlleth Community Children’s Project). Since moving to Aberystwyth, she has been keen to get involved in supporting another local charity and values the opportunity to support the work of DASH Ceredigion.
Hilary Eldridge
Hilary worked for Hywel Dda Health Board in various Administrative roles for over 25 years. For the last 16 years she was Secretary of Tim Plant Anabl supporting the team and the families.
Ellen ap Gwynn
Ellen was the first woman to lead Ceredigion County Council and served as Leader 2012-2022. She led on the establishment of the Growing Mid Wales Partnership and as Chair of the Board was a signatory of the £110m Mid Wales Growth Deal.
When active with Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, served as Chair of the Dyfed Special Needs Committee and worked to ensure pre-school children with special needs and their families received the support that they needed. As a County Councillor she gained the experience of advocating for families of children with special needs and of chairing the Social Services Scrutiny Committee.
Born in Scotland and brought up in Borth-y-gest near Porthmadog, Gwynedd, she graduated in Education and received a PGCE from UCW Aberystwyth.
Staff
Ben Freeman - DASH Manager
Ben is manager of DASH. He has lived in Ceredigion most of his life and first worked for DASH in 2001 and 2002 as a Teen Scheme leader. Since then he has worked in various roles supporting children and families accross Ceredigion. Ben is the designated Responsible Individual for the DASH Away Weekends Registered Service.
Gail Young - Schemes Co-ordinator
Gail is the schemes co-ordinator for DASH Ceredigion. If you have any queries about Playschemes, Activity Days, or any other events that DASH are organising, or you think should be organising, please feel free to contact her at the DASH Ceredigion office.