Photo of Helen smiling

Helen Allen

Director of Community Enterprise

Helen began her career in the social care field in Oldham within supported housing for adults with a learning disability. She then moved to Shared Lives where she stayed for a number of years managing the scheme and developing it into a generic service. In 2007 Helen was seconded to Shared Lives Plus to co-ordinate the DH Small Community Services project in Oldham, where she first gained significant experience on community enterprise development in response to the personalisation agenda and also managed a second DH project, supporting entrepreneurs with a disability to develop their own community enterprise.

In 2010, Helen joined the newly created Community Catalysts to take that knowledge and learning to other areas. She now enjoys managing a team of Project Managers and Catalysts working in a variety of councils and health authorities to stimulate and sustain community enterprises for people in those areas. Helen has a particular passion working on programmes that support people with a disability to use their gifts and talents to develop their own activity or enterprise.

Helen also enjoys the opportunity to deliver presentations at events to share her passion and knowledge, in addition to creating and delivering interactive workshops for frontline workers and commissioners to affect the culture change needed to make personalisation real. No two days are ever the same!

07912 842552