Trustees

John has been supporting schools in their use of AAC and assistive technology for the last 17 years. More recently he has taken on additional responsibilities for advising on online safety, network security and data protection.
Born in Manchester, John grew up in Macclesfield and went on to study Biological Sciences at Birmingham University. After a period working with young people at risk of offending in Berkshire, he enrolled at Bulmershe College in 1984, qualifying as a teacher a year later. He then worked in a number of Primary and Middle Schools in Berkshire and Northumberland until 2001 when he was seconded to the post of SEN/ICT Consultant with Northumberland Local Authority. He continues to live and work in Northumberland.

Phil is the Chair of the Ace Centre and has been associated with the organisation for 20 years. He is the former Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth and was a Government Minister for 9 years. Phil has supported Ace Centre since 1998 and has helped to steer the development of Ace Centre from being a locally based charity to a national organisation.

He has been involved in national and local politics for over 30 years. After leaving Parliament in 2010, he founded the UK’s first all Party political analysis company. He lives in West London and works extensively around the United Kingdom. He is married with two sons.

A former primary school teacher, Jean was elected as an Oldham Councillor in 2003 and initially joined Ace Centre Board as the Council representative. Upon her retirement from the Council in 2010, we were delighted that she agreed to remain on the Board as a local representative.