Menu
Donate

Meet the Team

Our dedicated team are passionate about helping shape the lives of children with motor disorders and delays.

Our team of experienced practitioners are experts at what they do with extensive knowledge to guide and support our families. Our team and trustees are all committed to providing the best possible service for the children and their families.

The Team at Steps

Trish Mabbott

Fundraising and Operations Manager

Natalie Roberts

Centre Manager

Sally Belton

Administrative Assistant

Angie Higgins

Finance Officer

Indila Simandi

Team Leader and Lead Conductor

Fiona Holroyd

Conductor

Kelly Harriman

Early Years Practitioner

Trustees

John Montague

Chairman

I have worked in the social business and impact sector for 25 years and in that time have had the privilege of working with many inspirational and impact-driven organisations.

I first met the team at Steps following a Young Enterprise event held at Leicester City football ground in 2003. At that time Steps was early in its journey looking to find and purchase a permanent home for the charity. I was hooked, with both the challenge and the positive impact Steps could deliver to Children and families with a permanent and dedicated facility.

Some 21 years later, I am still involved and just as excited and amazed at the work and success Steps has in changing young lives and their families for the better.

Rosemary Conley CBE DL

Patron and Trustee

I first learned of the remarkable results that Conductive Education could make to children with cerebral palsy and other motor neurological conditions in 1994 after our local vicar’s grandson, Shaun, had greatly benefitted from attending the Pêto Institute in Hungary where this type of specialist physiotherapy was pioneered.

Four families then founded a similar centre in Loughborough, and I was honoured to be asked to be Patron of the Charity.

Now, 30 years on, I am proud to help and avidly promote the remarkable work achieved by Steps. I have seen how the team work with parents to transform the lives of the special little children who attend. Helping children who were told that they would never be able to sit, walk or stand to reverse that brutal prognosis.  It is because of this extraordinary difference, that I am so passionate about Steps.

Tony Carr

Trustee

My daughter Ellie (who happens to have Down’s syndrome) attended steps from about 6 months old.  I was amazed by the work the team carried out with the children. 

At the time I was a senior manager at a Leicestershire manufacturing plant and steps became our charity of the year in 2007.  I became a parent representative and subsequently joined the board of trustees. 

My daughter is now approaching her 18th birthday and Su and I are convinced that the early input from Steps significantly helped with her with taking her first steps and her early development. 

It is a wonderful free service for Children with motor function disorders and a safe space for parents and families. I am proud and privileged to support Steps as a trustee. 

Laura Beales

Trustee

I first became involved with Steps with my own little boy when he was 18 months old and then I became a Trustee in 2017. I have seen first hand the incredible impact that Conductive Education has in helping children with physical conditions reach their full potential. They achieve miracles in my eyes. I have great passion around spreading the inportance of Conductive Education and feel honoured to be a parent Trustee of Steps. 

Jeanette Cooper-Hudson

Trustee
I became aware of STEPS when I was working as head of charities and sponsorship for a major retailer.
 
I was and still am amazed at the fabulous results that these amazing children achieve with the help and encouragement they get from STEPS.
 
Being a trustee gives me the opportunity to ensure that STEPS continues as a viable charity helping children and families for many years to come.

Peter Legg

Clerk to Trustees

Dave Andrews DL

Trustee​
I’m both a former Deputy Headteacher and broadcaster with the BBC – having covered many stories of significance to Leicester and Leicestershire whilst at the Corporation. Since 2015 I’ve  been privileged to act as a Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire and it was in this role that I first became aware of the amazing work of Steps, having been encouraged to visit by fellow DL and Steps Trustee Rosemary Conley. 
 
As a result of several visits I became incredibly interested in, and impressed by, the way in which the conductive education methods impact the lives of the children and the families who use Steps. 
 
I was honoured to be subsequently asked to join the Board of Trustees and I hope I can play my part in supporting and promoting the inspirational work of the Steps practitioners.

Dr Angela Lennox CBE DL

Trustee​

Throughout my 45-year career as an NHS doctor and general practitioner, I was aware of Conductive Education and its potential to transform lives of individuals with disabilities and their families. So, in February 2023, as I moved into my retirement, I was really pleased to be able to join Steps as a Trustee.

Over the years, as I gained more experience as a medical doctor, I saw at first hand the value of treating the whole person – not just their medical illness, but the wider impact it has on them and their families. This is something that Steps brilliantly achieves. Lives have literally been transformed by Steps.

Becoming a Trustee enables me to work with the Board of Steps and the team to consider how we can ensure that as many children as possible can benefit from the expertise and life-transforming abilities of Steps.