Meet the Team
Rob Branston
Founder of FABA
Background in sales and account directorship within the print, mail and communications industry, written bids to win multi million pound contracts (one of these was with Daniel Holden!). Father of Benjamin our Autistic and ADHD 9 year old boy who is preverbal and very lively, his favourite past times are climbing, spinning and wearing out adults. Since having Benji we have been aware of the lack of suitable information help and advice that is on offer for families with autism. Furthermore more recently we have struggled to find suitable holiday destinations and respite carers for our son. FABA aims to bridge these gaps and provide help support and a fantastic holiday destination for families with autistic children.
Wanda Hawran
Founder of FABA
As a qualified nutritionist Wanda is the brains behind the operation. Wanda has read literature and attended courses throughout the UK and in theUSA to look for ways to help support people and families with autism. This on-going research list includes nutrition, bio-medical intervention, specific carbohydrate diet, HBOT, homeopathy, gluten free casein free, massage, music therapy, Son-Rise, Intensive Interaction ABA, VBA. There are not many approaches for children with autism that she isn’t aware of.
Pauline Thomas MBE
Chief Executive of the Lloyd Park Centre in Walthamstow
Pauline took on what was a ramshackled collection of porta-cabins and through hard work and determination using a series of fundraising events and grant applications has built Lloyd Park Centre into a wonderful environment for children. Lloyd Park is where our son went to pre-school and they helped tremendously with getting a Statement of Educational Need and offered support through our challenging times of bringing up a son with Autism and ADHD.
Lloyd Park Centre offers lots of different opportunities to families in our community including daycare, family health, open door sessions, breakfast and teatime provision and a holiday scheme for primary school age children.
Daniel Holden
Group Finance Director at SecureTrading
A strong commercial Group Finance Director with hands-on experience of implementing change, control and growth within the organisation, particularly within the Education, Financial Services and e-Comm industries.
A proven successful track record of multi-national financial control, equity and debt fund raising rounds, and embedding the finance function into the commercial operations and strategy of the business. The implementation of significant cost savings, efficiencies and strict cash management are key skills.
Extensive experience in leading a team and taking responsibility for wider areas of the business including key stakeholder relationship management, commercial management, general management, IT, business transformation, turnaround, business integration and restructuring skills.
Company secretary and legal experience; qualified Barrister (non-practising). Daniel is advising us on a whole host of financial matters, business planning and forecasting to make sure we stay on the right path and keep our budgets under strict control. (He loves numbers!).
Laura Macleod
Specialist Therapist for those with disabilities and complex needs
When attending a training seminar on Intensive Interaction the presenter recommended Laura as a good choice to help support our son. Ben presents with complex needs, he frequently has 2 to 1 care at school and his ADHD ensures he keeps everyone around him nice and busy. For us Laura was the ideal choice as she has previously done the whole Son-Rise program which we had explored and was an expert in Intensive Interaction working closely with Dave Hewett who set up II. We have seen how expertly Laura can build relationships with a challenging child and help to bring them on in all aspects of communication and interaction.
Laura has also spent a great deal of time working closely with Ben’s school which is working very well for all concerned. Laura has worked extensively with Schools and charities to deliver training for those who work within the special needs environment. It is the combination of all these skills that make her the ideal choice to help Families Affected by Autism.
Alec Drew
The Web Guy
When we were looking to set up Families Affected by Autism we were very aware of just how important it is to have a high quality website. This is where Alec came in. Alec has worked with us to build this very website so the proof is in the pudding! Turning things around on a tight deadline and integrating complex Survey software Alec has proved to be worth his weight in gold. We are currently discussing future website developments that will be based around supporting families who have extra requirements.
