Meet the Team

Jonathan came to Wales in 1973 to train as a doctor and worked as a general practitioner in Merthyr Tydfil from 1981 to 2015. He was Clinical Director for the Cynon Valley at Cwm Taf University Health Board from 2010 to 2016, where he supported the Third Sector, integrated health and social care, and focused on quality and safeguarding. In the late 1990s, he served as Vice-Chair of the Diabetes UK Cymru Advisory Group. Since 1997, he has been an External Professor of Primary Care at the University of South Wales (Glyntaff).

Jonathan has long held a special interest in the links between health and poverty, an area that began receiving wider research attention in the mid-1990s. Hearing Professor Sir Michael Marmot speak in 2012 reinforced his belief that behaviours increasing health risks should not be seen as stigmatising, but as understandable responses to circumstances. His years in general practice deepened his understanding of the complex relationships between health determinants, behaviour, culture, resilience, and the importance of meeting people where they are—supporting them in ways that enable meaningful choices and positive change.

He is proud of the progress made at Home-Start Cymru, thanks to the dedication of its volunteers, the expertise of its staff, and the leadership of its Senior Team. The Board of Trustees provides valuable experience that guides the organisation’s vision and strategy. Home-Start Cymru focuses on addressing the root causes of the challenges faced by families and young children in Wales today. Jonathan sees it as a privilege to draw on his background in the NHS, health and social care, and the research and innovation sector to work alongside others in building a healthier, more resilient Wales.

Carol Ravenscroft was appointed Treasurer of Home-Start Cymru in January 2020.

She is a retired Charity Finance Director, having worked for Drive, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, for 18 years. Carol brings over 30 years of experience in financial management and strategy across both the public and third sectors.

She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and continues to contribute her expertise to Home-Start Cymru’s governance and financial stewardship.

Catriona is recently retired Chief Executive of Children in Wales  which is the national umbrella membership charity for organisations and individuals from all disciplines and sectors working with children, young people and families and which aims to make the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child a reality in Wales. Children in Wales also manages the Young Wales programme which provides a platform for children and young people to give their views direct to government. She has worked in the children and young people’s field all her professional life and was a leading member of the campaign to establish the first Children’s Commissioner in the UK and actively promoted a focus on combating child poverty in Wales.

She has been a member of many Welsh Government working groups. Currently these include the Social Services Partnership Forum, Curriculum for Wales Stakeholder Group, the Together for Children and Young People Programme Board and the Improving Outcomes for Children Ministerial Advisory Group. She is also on the Cymru Well Wales collaborative. On a UK level she was one of the 10 Commissioners on the UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.

Catriona co-chairs Voices from Care Cymru and she has also been on the boards of several charities such as the National Family and Parenting Institute and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

Internationally, Catriona was the founder President of Eurochild (2001-2010), the pan European NGO funded by the European Commission that aims to combat child poverty and social exclusion across Europe. She was President of the International Forum for Child Welfare 2008-2012 and also Vice President of the European Social Platform of NGO’s in 2010-2012.

After  a 40+ year career working for the NHS, I am now retired. I moved to Swansea in 2022, and shortly after began volunteer training. I joined the board of trustees a couple of years later. 

In addition to being a Homestart volunteer and Trustee I enjoy spending time running (I have completed two half marathons), travelling and hillwalking. I have two adult children, and a small grandchild who reminds me of the realities of life with small people. 

Much of my working life was spent supporting families, and it was through this that I became aware of the role that Homestart could play in this critical time. I have now been supporting families as a volunteer family supporter for three years. I became aware of the need for additional trustees at a volunteer event, and I think that the experience of volunteering  has complimented my role as a trustee, giving me a perspective on some of the challenges faced by both the families we support and our volunteers. 

Its difficult to define my most successful achievement - I hope to look back on a life that was well spent, and that I made a difference where I could. 

Helen is the Director of the Bevan Commission and the Bevan Commission Academy. She has played a lead role in the establishment of the Commission and in its challenging work programme, particularly Prudent Healthcare.

Helen was instrumental in establishing the Bevan Academy, Bevan Innovators and transformation programmes, helping to drive its thinking into practice.

She was previously a Public Health Consultant with Public Health Wales and has led a major Ministerial review of health improvement interventions across Wales.

Prior to this Helen held a number of senior positions within Welsh Government Health Policy and Strategy, latterly heading up the Primary and Community Health Strategy Unit.

Helen has worked as an advisor with the World Health Organisation and also advised Russian, Spanish, New Zealand and other Governments on health policy.

Helen taught for a number of years on the WHO masters at Karolinska University in Sweden and at Bristol University as Director of a post-graduate Leadership programme for clinicians.

Ruth Sinfield has spent her career in social care, mainly in the statutory sector while maintaining strong links with the voluntary sector.

She qualified as a social worker in the 1970s and progressed through management to senior level. Later in her career, she returned to practice, focusing predominantly on children’s services. Alongside her statutory roles, she worked in partnership with Home-Start for many years, commissioning services and championing early prevention.

Upon retirement, Ruth was invited to join the local Home-Start management board in Monmouthshire. She became Chair shortly before the merger that created Home-Start Cymru, playing a key role in leading Monmouthshire through this transition and shaping the new organisation.

Over the course of her career, Ruth has taken the lead in developing a range of care models, from domiciliary services to residential and day care. She is particularly proud of leading the team that won a national award for services to disabled children. Now semi-retired, she continues to take an active interest in supporting vulnerable children and families, bringing her wealth of experience to Home-Start Cymru’s vision and work.

Ann qualified as a social worker and spent nearly forty years working in Local Authorities in Wales – firstly in a Children’s Department and then in Social Services Departments working with the elderly, people with disabilities and across mental health services as well as with children and their families.

She then moved on into managerial positions in children’s services where prior to retirement she spent ten years as Head of Children’s Services in a Local Authority.

Following retirement, she became an independent member of a Police Authority leading on Public Protection, worked part time in the voluntary sector for Children in Wales and chaired two Local Authority Adoption Panels, one of which she still chairs.

She has been a trustee with Home-Start since she retired – chairing Home-Start Carmarthen–Llanelli for thirteen years and then continuing as chair of the merged Home-Start Carmarthenshire prior to becoming a board member of Home-Start Cymru. She is also a trustee of a local domestic abuse services charity.

Barbara retired in 2013 having spent most of her working career in the voluntary sector working with children and families. Home-Start has been a huge part of her life since she took up the role of setting up and managing Home-Start Merton in South London in 1993 where she remained until her retirement over 20 years later. Following retirement she and her husband relocated to South Wales. It wasn’t long before she sought out Home-Start in Wales and in 2014 she joined the Board of Trustees of the former Home-Start Caerphilly, serving as Chair for the last 2 years, before joining the board of Home-Start Cymru when it came into being in 2019.

 Whilst in Merton, having developed a reputation for being innovative and creative in her approach, she was frequently invited by Home-Start UK to contribute to the development of a number of projects and new ways of working. Her proudest achievement was in 2006 when invited by Home-Start UK to represent the charity, speaking at a conference in Lithuania.

 Barbara brings a long history of living and breathing the ethos of Home-Start, having known Home-Start founder Margaret Harrison, and a strong insight and understanding of the operational side of its work alongside building strategic vision. Bringing over 20 years experience of project management Barbara is pleased to be part of driving forward an exciting future for Home-Start in Wales.