Our People
Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub has been established to create a home for adults with Cerebral Palsy and put their needs at the forefront of the minds of the medical and research community.
Our Trustees
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Emma Livingstone
Emma qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist at Birmingham University in 1998 and has worked predominantly with children, running services for both pre-school and school-age children across London. More recently she has worked at City University supporting student speech and language therapists and also practices as a life coach. Emma is married and mum to 3 young and active children.
Emma was born with Cerebral Palsy and has seen a significant decline in her mobility in recent years leading to several surgeries and having to give up work. It was her frustration at the lack of knowledge and understanding of Cerebral Palsy as a disability affecting adults that spurred her on to begin campaigning. In 2018 she founded the charity Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub to campaign for better support and services and give voice to the adult Cerebral Palsy community.
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Miriam Creeger
Miriam Creeger qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist from Guys Hospital in 1993 and in 1996 started specializing in Neurology.
It was while at St Georges Hospital, her interest in Adults with Cerebral Palsy evolved, while working in Neuro physio Outpatients. Here she began to learn about the need for holistic care for each individual patient and the benefit of working collaboratively with other disciplines to gain the best outcome for her patients. She then moved onto more senior roles running the inpatient and outpatient Neuro physiotherapy services at both The Whittington Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital.
She has continued developing her skills within Neurology and also Elderly Care both within the NHS and now in Private Practice.
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Derek Livingstone
Derek currently heads up finance at Bought By Many, a fast growing insurance technology business. He has had a successful and varied career in finance and business strategy across aviation, gaming and media.
Derek is Emma’s husband and has experienced first-hand the impact that ageing with Cerebral Palsy has had on Emma and the family.
Committed to raising the profile of adults with Cerebral Palsy, Derek is a trustee and supports the charity with its finances and all things technical.
Our Advisors
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Dr. Jennifer Ryan
Dr. Ryan is a Research Lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). She worked as a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Brunel University London between 2013 and 2018. Over the past 10 years she has conducted research into the health of children and adults with Cerebral Palsy. In particular her research has examined the impact of physical activity and exercise on the health and functional ability of people with Cerebral Palsy.
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Dr. Valerie Stevenson
Dr. Stevenson is a Consultant Neurologist working at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH where she runs the spasticity management service along with neurorehabilitation clinics. Since 2014 Dr. Stevenson has worked with NICE in the development of guidelines for children, young people and adults with cerebral palsy.
She graduated from the University of Newcastle- upon- Tyne in 1991 and began specialisation in Neurology in 1995 and completed an MD in multiple sclerosis at UCL in 1999. Following the completion of specialist training, Dr. Stevenson was appointed in 2003 as a Consultant Neurologist at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH.
From 2012 to 2015, Dr. Stevenson was the Assistant Clinical Director for Stroke, Therapies and Rehabilitation, has been the Clinical Lead for Rehabilitation at UCLH since 2016. Her clinical caseload is focussed in multidisciplinary spasticity management, Functional
Electrical Stimulation and cerebral palsy services at UCLH.Dr. Stevenson’s research interests are focussed on spasticity and disability management in all neurological conditions. She has published widely and is an editor and author of
Spasticity Management: A Practical Multidisciplinary Guide. -
Mr. Andrew Roberts
Andrew Roberts is a children’s orthopedic surgeon by training with a particular interest in cerebral palsy. Being a lifelong condition, cerebral palsy doesn’t stop at 16!
Fortunately, Andrew works in the orthopedic hospital where adults as well as children are treated and this enables him to continue care for his former child patients and also take on the care of adult patients. Very often specialist orthopedic care is undertaken by surgeons with expertise in joint replacement or some other subspecialty of orthopedics but they often don’t have confidence or experience in managing cerebral palsy.
By working jointly with his surgical, therapy and nursing colleagues Andrew is able to ensure that when an adult needs care it is done in a way that the addresses the problems of spasticity and the other issues that affect someone with cerebral palsy.
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Stephen Jacobs OBE
Stephen brings a wealth of experience in public health, social care and housing gained across a range of ”for profit” and ”not for profit” organisations.
Stephen has been Chair of the Newham Primary Care Trust, Chairman of Whipps Cross University Trust Hospital and executive chairman of the Expert Patient Programme – a community interest company which delivered training courses for patients and their carers with long term health conditions. Stephen has also held visiting Professorships at the Universities of Coventry and London South Bank on Health Inclusion.
Stephen has been active in urban regeneration and Housing and held a key community relations role within the successful London 2012 Olympic Bid team. As the neighbourhood Director of the Lancaster West Estate, which is the estate on which the Grenfell Tower is located, Stephen has been responsible for managing and regenerating the estate and community engagement following the disastrous fire.
He was awarded an OBE for services to urban regeneration in the Queen’s Millennium Honours List.
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Naomi Creeger
Naomi is Press and Public Relations Executive for Jewish Care and has worked in the voluntary sector for social care and disability organisations for many years. She is committed to supporting Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub with communications to help them to achieve the goal of access to good quality healthcare for all adults with Cerebral Palsy and to increasing awareness and understanding of Cerebral Palsy.
Naomi has an MA in Literature from Commonwealth Countries and BA hons English Language and Literature from University of Leeds
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Jonathan Hirshler
Jonathan is Co-Founder and CEO of ethical data science company, Signify Group, a role that draws upon 20+ years of experience at the intersection of campaigning, online messaging and digital strategy.
Jonathan started working in the Houses of Parliament before joining political communications consultancy APCO-UK. In 2003 he founded digital agency ScoreComms which he led for 10 years before being acquired in 2013 by specialist financial services marketing agency, AML Group. During his 5 year tenure at AML, Jonathan served on the Board and as Chief Digital Officer, guiding the business through a digital transformation exercise whilst advising global, blue chip clients on their digital technology, online messaging and social media strategies.
Jonathan has also worked across national campaigns, causes and charities to develop messaging and digital campaign strategies.
Our Supporters
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Rosie Jones
Rosie who herself has Cerebral Palsy performed to a rapturous audience at the launch event for Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub in October 2018. With her infectious laugh and high energy, Rosie Jones has quickly become a must-see act on the UK comedy circuit. The ex-television researcher was awarded a second place in the Leicester Mercury’s New Comedian Of The Year Award 2018 and has gone on to star on 8 Out Of 10 Cats and The Last Leg, Comedy Central’s Live From The Comedy Store and Roast Battle, as well as Dave’s Hypothetical. Rosie completed a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 with her debut show ‘Fifteen Minutes’, receiving critical acclaim – with the Scotsman describing her show as “both elegantly crafted and mischievous to its bones”.
Not forgetting her comedy writing roots Rosie is also busy working on a couple of sitcoms and writing on the hit Netflix series Sex Education. There seems to be no end to Rosie’s talents as she is also an incredible actor most recently making her primetime debut as Serena in a Silent Witness two-part-special.
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James Moore
James is a performance artist, musician and actor currently starring in Emmerdale. He has ataxic cerebral palsy and he is a strong advocate for people with disabilities in the arts. In January he won the National Television Award for best newcomer and hopes to take his career further and encourage people with disabilities to pursue careers in the arts.
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Leon Taylor
Leon was a Goalkeeper with the England Cerebral Palsy Football Team from 2003-2011 and competed in international tournaments across Europe and the rest of the world including as a member of the Great Britain team which competed at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008.
Until his retirement from competitive football, he was also the player representative on the National Cerebral Palsy League Committee. He has previously been a player mentor for the East Midlands Cerebral Palsy Elite Football Squad and is currently an assistant coach of the newly formed Derby County Community Trust Adult Cerebral Palsy Team.
Leon is a Sporting Ambassador for the charity Cerebral Palsy Sport, the country’s leading national disability sports organisation supporting people with cerebral palsy to achieve their sporting potential.
Away from Sport, Leon is the Patron of Hemi Hearts, a support group for children and families living with hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. He is also the UK Spokesperson for the World Cerebral Day Committee.