Bill Burgoine

I retired from the NHS at the end of 2007. I keep my NHS/IT interests up-to-date as the Patient Representative on the NHS Tameside and Glossop Information Management and Technology Strategy Group and I am also chairman of the Patient Participation Group at my own surgery; Haughton Thornley Medical Centre.

Hanif Malik

I am involved with T3SC, Age Concern, Tameside Volunteer Centre, Tameside Acute Trust, and RIQ. I set up Tameside Elders Association to enable BME communities to get involved with health and social Care issues. I have been involved with Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust (PCT) as a Non-Executive Director. I am passionate about older people’s services and I am keen to bring my expertise to represent their views, especially of deprived and vulnerable people.

Frank Downs

I have a great interest in seeing that people young and old are given respect and understanding, mainly in TMBC, Hospitals and Care Homes.

John Reddy

Giving real power and involvement to service users and their carers in Tameside would be my main objective. I am a carer of my son who has suffered from mental illness for many years. At the present time I am an Elected Public member-Councillor on the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust. I truly believe the service user and carer should be paramount in advising on policy and monitoring its outcome. The LINk organisation I believe would be an ideal body in bringing about this involvement. LINk is an independent statutory network with the power and authority to ask questions at the highest management level and to expect answers to ensure we get a first class service.

Bill Ormsby

I am Secretary and Director of my own limited company. I am also Secretary of the Patient Participation Group at my surgery.

Age Concern Tameside - Denise Powell

Age Concern Tameside believes they will make an excellent member of the LINk Board, as we are an organisation that shares similar aims and values. We are a voluntary organisation that has the passion and independence to represent and campaign for the rights of a diverse range of older people in the local community, so that their individual and collective voices are heard. Age Concern Tameside also works in partnership with many private and statutory health and social care organisations throughout Tameside to promote the delivery of quality services. We endeavour to enable older people to make informed choices about the services they receive, whilst protecting their dignity and rights to be valued and respected. Age Concern Tameside would welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with LINk to further improve the quality of service provision in the borough.

Diabetes Concern Tameside and Glossop - Dorothy Cartwright

Our group support all people with diabetes including Carers, family and friends. We provide information on diabetes including diet, alcohol, lifestyle issues and point people in the right direction. We hold monthly meeting with specialists alongside a social atmosphere. We offer a most service to those hard to reach as well as a telephone line for support. We cover all age groups and have links with other related groups and ethnic organisations. We have support from the hospital diabetes centre and some Community services. I myself organise an annual conference where members obtain the latest national information.

Tameside Citizens Advice Bureau - Susan Riley

Tameside Citizens Advice Bureau offer free, confidential, impartial and independent advice to the people of Tameside on a range of subject matters at a generalist level. From the enquiries raised we gather social policy issues from across the borough and raise these locally, regionally and nationally via our central office based in London. We have current membership of other related groups reporting into the PCT and Acute Trust, the Public Participation Committee for the PCT and User Reference Groups for the Acute Trust. As an organisation we have previous expertise and knowledge gained during the prior PPI forums, and through links with ICAS and PALS. In addition to our advice service we manage the ChoicE information shop providing information about residential and domiciliary care options for adults, and the Advocacy team providing advocacy for clients in Nursing and Residential homes for TMBC funded residents.

Hyde Community Action - Lesley Connor

Hyde Community Action (HCA) is a community led organisation, set up by a group of volunteers from the Hyde Asian Healthy Living Project. Our key aim is encouraging healthy living and reducing health inequalities. HCA board members and volunteers have a strong track record of improving services locally by listening to local people and ensuring services reflect diversity and are delivered appropriately. Our staff team and board members also have many years experience of encouraging wide community engagement and participation. Hyde Community Action is committed to ensuring that people locally have access to good quality services that are responsive to community need, and we want to work in partnership with other groups and individuals in Tameside to achieve this. LINk is a huge opportunity for us all to make this a reality.

People First Tameside - Liz Wright

Hi my name is Liz Wright, I am the project manager for People First Tameside, I have been asked by the board members to represent the organisation at the LINk meetings. People First was set up in 1998 and is a user-led organisation speaking up for the rights of adults with learning disabilities in Tameside. People First offer a number of different services to people such as Individual Advocacy, Group Advocacy session, we hold Big Meetings to talk about current issues affecting peoples lives, we run a social drop in club, support a Mens BME advocacy group, deliver creative communication sessions to those people with profound and complex needs as well as offering volunteer placements.  People First also sit on the board of the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board, facilitate the Shadow Partnership Board, attend other conferences and meetings around the North-West and work in Partnership with People First groups across the country. It is important that we have a say about how services are developed to ensure that they are the right services, that they are accessible to all and of a good quality.

The Carers Council - Pat Jones

The Carers Council was first set up in 1995 at Ryecroft Hall. There can be up to sixteen members at any one time. They meet every six weeks. The remit is to help the carers of Tameside. At this moment there are 2,500 carers on the Register and it is the purpose of the Council to help these people in any way we can, be it information or where to go for help. This can also be achieved by being on other committees like LINk which does just that it links us into a much larger network which enables us to acquire much more information and guidance which further helps us to help many more carers.

The LINk Team

Peter Denton
LINk Co-ordinator

I’m the project manager for Tameside LINk. It’s my job to support LINk members, Tameside LINk Board and work with the LINk’s partners to achieve the LINk outcomes.

Tahmena Khan
LINk Policy and Research Officer

I produce policy briefings on health and social care issues for the LINk and undertake relevant research like the latest LINk survey to find out what local people think about the health and social care services they receive.

Robert Longden
LINk Community Networker

I have responsibility for raising the awareness of LINk and the opportunities to become involved across Tameside, the recruitment of new members and informing the community of the activities LINk has undertaken.

Julie Beech
LINk Admin Worker

I do the admin for LINk and keep membership details up to date.