Hi there, I’m Ash and it’s a pleasure to meet you.

As the world changed in 2020 with the arrival of COVID, so did my direction for work. I found myself in the fortunate position of supporting vulnerable adults with identified neurodivergent and mental health needs navigate the jobs and benefits systems through the DWP. Shortly after this, I began working with young adults and children in their home settings through EOTAS packages. This broadened into work online and out in the community, accessing places outside of their previous comfort zone and activities like Forest School; an opportunity to be around others but in a manner that allowed them to maintain their autonomy.

With experience of my own ADHD, I have also worked alongside those wurg Dyslexia, PDA, CP situational mutism and autistic people. Throughout my career, my jobs have always been practical and many have involved helping others. Whether this be Customer Service and managerial based working at Halfords, running teams of people within the motor trade, or more recently when working for the Government and the Department of Work and Pensions.
It was at the DWP, that I found I was drawn to helping some of the most vulnerable clients and in turn would build strong, trusting relationships with them, ensuring that I was available and approachable for them to feel comfortable to engage with me on a regular basis. This would be reciprocated by them letting me into their, often fraught, lives to allow me to help them as best I could within the resources I had available to me.

This passion, coupled with my love of many things ‘geek’, allow me to be very flexible when meeting new people and sharing in their interests. Whether this be a love of cars from my time in the motor trade, my rather extensive knowledge of dinosaurs or my fantasy/sci-fi/anime side that is harnessed through my love of reading, DnD, gaming and film watching. Similarly though, I enjoy being outdoors and exploring new places and activities, with a trip down to the coast being a welcome breath of fresh air (I’d love to be a pirate if being on a boat didn’t make me feel sick!), or a crazy hike across London just to visit the latest Bandai pop-up store…all in the name of Gundam!

I’ve had the privilege of being a gamer for as long as I can remember; spanning all Final Fantasy worlds, witnessing Kratos’s path of destruction, exploring the universe of STO in my U.S.S Archangel whilst assisting in one of the game’s current largest fleet, surviving Melevelon Creek and saving Super Earth to finally becoming Elden Lord (several times) – I’m always souls deep in a game or head buried in a book….. most recently the adventures of Drizzt the Dark Elf.