About Our Team
The Job Retention Team is a group of professionals from varied backgrounds and with complimentary experience and expertise, who between them, share a passion for workplace wellbeing, for supporting
those
who develop stress and health issues to retain employment, and for delivering quality training programmes to those who can influence such outcomes.
They recognise the need, now more than ever, to also be able to offer help to employers to learn how to look after their valuable staff, to address and eliminate barriers that may affect job sustainability, and to help transform workplaces into places of compassion as well as productivity.
Roger Butterworth
Roger has been associated with mental health and work for longer than he cares to remember. He was a Vocational Services Manager for an NHS Mental Health Trust, and Project Lead for the Avon Pilot, the first mental health Job Retention Service based in Primary Care. He has trained hundreds of staff in job retention skills. His greatest passion is bringing the right people together, so no surprise that he has engineered the development of National Job Retention Networks. He remains the Chair of the London Network, when he is not busy with his grandchildren. He believes a good way to end a busy working day is in the pub, where the lively debate can continue until closing time!
Ruth Shakespeare
Ruth has been facilitating development of people and organisations for the last 30 years, with
relationships and wellbeing at the core of her philosophy. She has a background in counselling,
mediation and training and for many years worked in Occupational Health as the Counselling
Service lead and member of the senior OH team, winning an award for Improving Working Lives
and becoming an exemplar for the HSE Management Standards. She has worked across a range
of sectors, including education, housing, theatres and the dairy industry. Meeting Dave and Roger
in 2009 introduced her to the world of Job Retention. To support her own wellbeing, Ruth is a
musician (and music teacher), loves playing swing jazz in a Big Band and enjoys walking through
her home county of Yorkshire with her dogs, Brodie and Frodo.
Dave Costello
An Occupational Therapist, Dave was the Lead Clinician in the Avon Job Retention Pilot, and has many years experience of work in both the public and private sectors of mental health, work rehabilitation and job retention. He has worked in Talking Therapy Services, and as an OT in an Occupational Health setting, providing advice and return to work planning for a variety of physical and psychological conditions. He is an experienced trainer and supervisor, and has a parallel career as a skilled therapist, using a tool kit of complimentary as well as more familiar approaches to helping clients to achieve wellbeing. He has an impressive collection of bass guitars, and enjoys nothing more than being a 'guitar jukebox' round the fire with good friends, where he can be found playing obscure pop hits from the sixties and seventies.
Lorraine Looker
Lorraine is a Vocational Specialist in the NHS, working in secondary care and based within Community Mental Health. She has been working in the field of Job Retention Case Management since 2003.
During this time, she estimates that she either worked with, or supported and advised over 3,000 individuals (including friends, colleagues, family and many more). During this time, she has earnt a formidable reputation for gaining successful outcomes for her clients, particularly with very complex and challenging cases.
She is an expert by experience, managing her own health conditions and disabilities, but she doesn't let that hold her back. She is also an expert in negotiating settlements and teaches on the Advanced JR Skills Course. Lorraine is currently working on some new training in relation to Neurodiversity and Job Retention and hopes to provide a useful resource to compliment this training.
Lorraine has utilised her knowledge of employment law and developed The Job Retention Advice and Guidance Handbook (2021) which has become something of a ‘go to bible’ for JR practitioners.
She has recently discovered a passion for Pilates and is also passionate about Equality for all. She is currently campaigning for legislation collectively with others to bring in legislation to protect victims against bullying at work and she works on a voluntary basis with the Disability Resilience Network which recently led to a visit to Downing Street, to brief the PM's policy and disability advisors on the work of the DRN, and how Government might better achieve equality, diversity and inclusion for disabled people in employment.
Doreen Till
Doreen Till is an Employment Retention Team Manager, working with Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Doreen also chairs the Midlands Employment Retention Network, supporting members to share good practice and invite guest speakers.
She has worked in job retention for the NHS since 2014 with clients in secondary mental health care, in partnership with her IPS colleagues. Prior to this she was a manager within social services for 15 years and trained as a High intensity CBT Therapist. She now has a team of people who cover the Black Country Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Sandwell for job retention.
Doreen has played a key role in advising on national policy and employment initiatives over the last year, through the Job Retention Team.
Doreen also chairs the Midlands Employment Retention Network, supporting members to share good practice and invite guest speakers.
In her spare time she likes to go and see women's football matches, and Doreen is also partial to a good podcast on a wide range of topics!
Elizabeth Davey
Elizabeth is a solicitor and project director at the Legal Advice Centre in East London. Prior to this she worked in both the advice and mental health sectors. Elizabeth specialises in discrimination and employment law, and works with clients at all stages of their disputes. She has taken many cases to the Employment Tribunal or Country Court.
Additional successes include setting up a disability employment project and medical partnership project with NHS funded organisations in the East London area. She has also worked for the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2017/18, when she set up and managed a national access to justice project and undertook strategic casework in discrimination law.
Elizabeth has delivered trainings and presentations at both local and national level to a wide range of audiences, including lawyers, tribunal judges and NHS Professionals.
She currently delivers our hugely applauded Advanced Legal Skills Training , and offers legal advice drop in clinics for EA's as part of the London and Northern JR Networks.
