Paul Charlesworth

I first encountered Enham while looking for a suitable supported living facility for our learning-disabled daughter. Although, as it turned out, we chose somewhere closer to home, I was enormously impressed by the way in which Enham managed to combine a focused approach to developing each client's capacity for living more independently with a very relaxed, friendly atmosphere. It just felt right, and I was thus delighted when, a few years later, I was invited to become a trustee.

Enham is unusual in its capacity to deliver a very diverse range of support to disabled people, while continually remaining at the forefront of developments in disability care. Enham's diversity demands a particularly skilled and dedicated group of staff and, for me, a major role of the trustees is in supporting the endeavours of this team. I hope that I'm able to bring to Enham very practical experience of the hopes, aspirations and concerns associated with caring for somebody who is disabled, combined with an understanding of the environmental constraints under which any enterprise has to operate.

About Paul

Paul's early career was in academic science. A first degree in Zoology from London University was followed by a PhD in population biology at Leeds, after which he held teaching posts in Leeds and Wolverhampton, before making a complete shift into management consultancy in the late 1980s.

As a director of an International consulting firm, he has worked with many major private and public sector organisations in Europe, the United States and Asia. More recently, he was part of a public to private management buy-out of the company, which was later acquired by an American multinational. He now runs a small consulting company that specialises in research, particularly in the third sector.

As well as his work for Enham, Paul chairs a small local disability charity (founded by him and his wife) and provides business advice to some military charities. When not working, he enjoys concerts and the theatre, long distance walking, cycle touring and trying to understand the French. He has just completed an Open University degree in humanities and is going on to study for an MA in literature. He has also started learning to play the clarinet; something for which, as his family will testify, he shows little aptitude.