"Becoming a tutor at Turn Around has taught me a lot about myself and what kind of teacher I can be. It has helped me adapt in better ways to help my students."
- Ayo (Volunteer tutor)
- Trustee
Many years spent in book-keeping and finance demonstrated to Elaine the importance of numeracy as a life skill.
Combining this with an active interest in teaching in the community led Elaine to become involved with Turn Around at its formation.
- Trustee since 2005
Michelle is a Londoner who was educated at James Allen’s Girls’ School. After marrying David (see below) she lived in Brazil from 1977 to 1981.
Michelle has been teaching basic skills since 1985, when she realised that her daughter was not being taught to read at school. She then progressed to teaching her daughter’s classmates and her son, and then continued to teach basic skills to both children and adults for the next twenty years, working on her own and in conjunction with various organisations and charities. In 2005 she set up Turn Around as a charity, as a means of reaching more students. In the years since, Turn Around has grown to the point that it has more than thirty volunteer tutors, but Michelle still volunteers as a tutor herself for two to three days a week.
She drew up the training materials, handbook and videos which are used by all Turn Around’s volunteers and by volunteers at some other charities. These cover not just the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, but also the supportive and understanding approach to students which is key to the Turn Around style. She chairs the Trustees and the Training & Tutoring Sub-committee.
- Trustee
Colin joined Turn Around as a volunteer tutor in February 2019 as he approached retirement from a career working in the financial services industry.
As a father of three sons and grandfather to five grandchildren he has direct experience of helping children to read. Additionally, he brought to TurnAround prior experience as a tutor in Basic Literacy for Adults for the London Borough of Bromley; as a trustee of Walsingham Support (a charity for learning disabled adults) and as a Business Ambassador for London Borough of Bromley Education Services working with secondary schoolchildren across the Borough. Colin became a trustee of Turn Around in January 2021.
- Trustee
Ros is a Chartered Surveyor with over 25 years’ experience in Commercial Asset and Property Management. After many years working closely with charities in those regions of the UK where her work took her, she is now focused on charities closer to her home in Bromley, which she shares with her husband and two children.
She joined Turn Around as a Trustee in January 2021.
- Trustee since 2005
David has been married to Michelle since 1977. An accountant by training, he started to volunteer regularly as a Turn Around tutor after retiring in 2011 from a thirty year career in financial management. During this time, and his previous twelve years in accounting practice, he was very involved in nurturing teams and developing and mentoring junior colleagues. Together with Elaine Andresier-Robinson, he has been responsible for the financial administration of Turn Around since its inception. He chairs the Finance Sub-committee and is a member of the Policies and Governance Sub-committee.
- Trustee since 2005
Deanne is a grandmother who taught infants (now called Key Stage 1) for nearly 30 years, before retiring and working for the Metropolitan Police as a Designated Detention Officer.
She remembers being inspired by a talk on phonics at the school where she taught, and realising this to be by far the best way to teach reading. With phonics it is only a few sounds that have to be learnt, not thousands of words.
She brings her wealth of experience to the benefit of Turn Around, knowing that children respond to recognition and positivity for their efforts and believing that everyone deserves the same, and Turn Around offers this.
She is a member of the Training & Tutoring Sub-committee and is a volunteer tutor and consultant.
