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The Tailor Ed Team

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Tailor Ed Foundation is made up of a group of trained professionals from a variety of backgrounds – including education, psychology and health – who want to improve the day to day living of neurodivergent children and enhance their family’s quality of life.

CEO

Jonathan Revell

Jonathan joined Tailor Ed as the CEO in September 2023, and prior to taking up the role he worked in Education. He brings nearly 30 years experience of working with children and families in a variety of roles including 15 years as a Head Teacher in 6 different schools in Aberdeenshire and East Lothian.

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He has worked with children from 2 to 17 across a variety of settings as well as senior leadership roles within local authorities.

Early Years Service

Service Manager

Pete McNaughton

Pete has worked with autistic children and young people since 2008. He has supported children both on a one to one basis and with group work in a variety of settings including family homes, schools, holiday play schemes, social clubs and in the…

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…wider community. He has worked on various targets including communication skills, self help skills, play skills and social skills. He has helped run social clubs for autistic children aged 8-18 and used to run a respite service for disabled children and young people. Pete completed an honours degree in Psychology at Edinburgh University.

Senior Project Worker

Javier Roman Lopez

Javier, originally from the warm land of Seville, is passionate about education and autism. He started working in leisure activities with autistic people while studying a degree in Psychology at the University of Seville.

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Javier moved to London where he worked in specialist schools supporting children to learn communication, social and daily living skills. Since moving to Edinburgh he has worked with kids at home and in group settings working closely with families to develop skills and supports for everyday life. He’s an expert at bringing fun to every learning opportunity and has the boundless energy required for all our early learners.

Project Worker

Alanah Gardner
(maternity leave)

Alanah is passionate about providing care and support for children and their families. She is a qualified Early Years Practitioner and has worked in nursery and primary school settings for the last 11 years.

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Alanah has supported children with a range of needs from the ages of 1-10. Alanah is originally from Arbroath and Dundee but has found her home in Edinburgh, by the sea.

Project Worker

Eleanor Leet

Eleanor has experience working across both education and home environments, and enjoys helping children feel settled, understood and supported in their daily routines…

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…
She is originally from Devon, which is where she first began supporting autistic and neurodivergent children in a primary school setting. She then studied Psychology at Swansea University, before moving to Edinburgh. Eleanor has worked closely with families and school staff, and values clear, compassionate communication in all aspects of her work. She has a particular interest in child development, neurodiversity, and creating positive, consistent environments where children can feel confident and thrive.

Target Specific Service

Service Manager: Target Specific & Wellbeing

Kirstin Brady

Kirstin loves music and she focused her undergraduate degree on music therapy which ignited her passion to work with autistic children and their families. Kirstin has worked in home-based education programmes as a behaviour therapist and supervisor since 2013 with children and adults. She specialises on developing communication and daily living skills.

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Kirstin graduated with an MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis with distinction from Queen’s University, Belfast, writing notable works on behavioural gerontology and implementation of communication devices. She has a strong background in service management, research, and training. Kirstin has worked with leading national charities supporting carers and families using CBT and ACT based models.

Senior Project Worker

Laura Connor

Laura has worked with autistic children and adults, as well as those with additional support needs and adverse childhood experiences since 2011. During this time, she has supported individuals with daily living skills, social skills, emotional literacy, communication…

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…and education using a person-centred approach. She has worked across a variety of settings including home, school, residential, community and within a transitional education project. In her previous role as an education tutor Laura gained experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team, providing staff training and creating and implementing individual learning plans. Laura completed her undergraduate degree in Applied Psychology at Heriot Watt University and has an SVQ 3 in Social Services (Children and Young People). She has a particular interest in emotional literacy and giving young people the tools to be able to recognise, understand and communicate emotions in themselves and others.

Project Worker

Alina Danilowa

Alina has worked with children and young people with complex needs since 2017. She has supported young people ages 5-25 across leisure, educational and residential settings to learn communication, emotional regulation…

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…and daily living skills and participate in their communities.

In her previous role as a Residential Worker in a short breaks service, Alina worked as part of the multidisciplinary team to deliver person-centred interventions that promoted the young people’s wellbeing and independence by supporting their sensory, emotional, daily living and communication needs.  

Alina has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh and a PgDip in Speech and Language Therapy from Queen Margaret University. She has a particular interest in AAC and is passionate about ensuring that every child and young person has access to their preferred method of communication.

Wellbeing – ND:well & EDAN

ND:well

Senior Project Worker

Martha Homberg (on secondment)

Martha has worked with neurodivergent children and young people since 2014, having focused on working with the autistic community from 2015 onwards. She has since had the opportunity to work with groups…

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…and one-on-one in a variety of settings, including clinical research, residential services, home-based and centre-based support, as well as out in the community. They have worked with a wide age range with young people of varied profiles, on a variety of goals going from communication systems and safety in the community, co-regulation and meeting sensory needs, all the way through to self-knowledge and advocacy. Martha is late diagnosed autistic herself. She studied Psychology and Play Therapy in Mexico, and more recently obtained an MSc with distinction in Neuropsychology with the University of Edinburgh. Martha is passionate about young people finding joy and pride in themselves and their life, she’s an avid learner who cherishes the community’s wisdom and centres lived experience in her practice.
Martha is currently on secondment.

Project Worker

Claire Allison

Claire has loved working with neurodivergent children and young people since 2008 when she was still a young person herself! She has worked enthusiastically in a variety of settings, including schools, nurseries, CAMHS, and the community.

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…She has a Masters degree in Applied Psychology for Children and Young People, qualifying her as a therapist known as a ‘CAAP’ (Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology). Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology and Linguistics from The University of Edinburgh. As a neurodivergent person herself, Claire is passionate about neuroaffirmative, person-centred approaches to wellbeing support. She loves opportunities to get creative and ensures that her work with children and young people is collaborative and meaningful to them.

EDAN Hub

 

CYP Project Worker

Ria Phi

Ria was born and raised in the Philippines and has worked with children and young people from diverse backgrounds. She began by volunteering with at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Manila and later worked with third-sector organizations in Paris and Edinburgh…

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…to support CYP who have faced adverse experiences. Most recently, she worked as a support worker providing 1:1 care to disabled and neurodivergent CYP on weekends and during school holidays.

She studied Psychology and History, Law, and Society at the American University of Paris and graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a distinction in the MSc in Mental Health in Children and Young People: Psychological Approaches. Passionate about multidisciplinary approaches to CYP development and mental health, she is committed to ensuring that services are accessible, culturally sensitive, and person-centred, empowering every young person to thrive.

Office Personnel

Fundraising Manager

Stuart McCallum

Stuart joined the team on April Fools day 2019! He has worked in youth and community work for nearly 30 years. In the past decade he has focused on fundraising, helping charities to secure essential funding from trusts, National Lottery, donors and community events.

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Stuart has lived in Leith for nearly 40 years and is an active member of Lochend Golf Club. His two daughters have now flown the family nest and he assures us he has almost recovered financially and emotionally from his eldest daughters wedding last year!

Finance & Business Support Officer

Clare Hutchinson

Clare joined Tailor Ed in 2025. Despite graduating many moons ago with a degree in Sociology & Criminology, she accidentally fell into the world of IT, where she has spent most of her working life. Roles have varied from scheduling training courses to project management to running her own business…

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…but there has been a focus throughout on administration, coordination and office management.

Originally from south-east England, she now lives in East Lothian with her husband, two children and over-enthusiastic Jack Russell.

The Board

Our Board is a comprehensive mix of people, providing a range of skills, expertise and perspectives that guide Tailor Ed.

Susie Harding

(Chairperson)

Susie is a Clinical Psychologist and has worked in applied psychology for several years with children, young people and families. She has previously worked as a researcher for a children’s charity and as a behavioural therapist with autistic children on home intervention programmes.

Chris Brown

(Treasurer)

Chris is a Finance Analyst who has previously worked in the voluntary sector for a large Edinburgh based childcare organisation.

Matthew Day

Having worked with autistic adults since 1991, Matthew is currently the Service Coordinator for Number 6, Autism Initiatives. He has previously served as Treasurer on the board of Changes Community Project (an East Lothian mental health charity). Matthew has had extensive training in autism, mental health and managing challenging services, and has a diploma in employment law.

Liz Murphy

Liz was Tailor Ed’s first administrative assistant and worked with the organisation for two years. She went on to do a masters in Social Work and is now working as a social worker.

Gary Staerck

Having previously worked in Theatre and Event Production, Gary gave up work in 2022 to care for his ND wife and 3 daughters. He is now kept very busy as our Carer representative, ASN Rep for his Parent Council and the EIJB along with being founder and steering group member of The REPAIR (Edinburgh) Network.

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