Meet the Apex Team
Sali Walker
Business Manager
As an ex-care leaver, Sali began life in and out of care due to their own mother’s mental health issues. This resulted in moving an enormous 88 times and the upheaval of attending 26 different schools. But that didn’t set Sali back, as Sali proudly holds five degrees!
Sali has always worked with children and is both a qualified teacher and regional director for a children’s charity.
It was by pure accident that Sali obtained a job at a fostering agency, but soon realised the company lacked any ethical standards and prioritised profits to Sali’s disgust. This propelled Sali to set up a value driven fostering agency – one that cares.
Sali has brought together a wonderful team, and leads them to work together successfully, with each member focusing on the welfare of our children and support and training for all carers. “…We do everything we can to support our carers, whether it’s respite, counselling or similar”.
Sali wants to make sure that every child that comes to Apex feels secure and loved, and tirelessly works to level the playing field so that all our children have the best chances academically, and to grow-up able to form great relationships.
Sali is so passionate about finding the right homes for our children, that they do all the initial home visits and selects potential Foster Carers themselves. “I want them to know, that the person that owns the company, actually cares about them. I love meeting new carers and helping to place children with a perfect match. Every morning when I wake up, I realise I am so lucky doing the job I do, where I am able to help to change people’s lives”.
Sali has four grown children, and loves being a parent, and has also been a foster parent and a host parent taking in LGBTQI+ kids that have sadly been thrown out of their family home. “This area of difficulty is very dear to my heart”.
Sali simply loves life and is quite the daredevil! Not only has Sali achieved a 3 Dan in Ju-Jitsu, but it also a level two weapons expert and keen white water rafter. On a gentler note, Sali also loves to travel and has ventured far and wide: South America, Europe, USA, and Canada. It’s no wonder that Sali loves people and different cultures, and particularly enjoys various vegetarian dishes – yum!
Roxanne Artrey-Henry
Registered Manager
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Emma Thorman
Area Manager Northside
Emma, who supports the north side, is an experienced social worker who successfully uses therapeutic and holistic approaches in her work. Emma has qualifications in both mindfulness teaching and mental health first aid, which provides Apex with a range of support.
Emma uses her knowledge and experience to discuss mental health strategies, which enhance the emotional and physical wellbeing for both young people and carers, resulting in positive outcomes.
Emma loves cats (aka Floofs) and currently volunteers at her local stray cat rescue centre once a month. Alongside this, her other hobbies and interests are: being a Reik practitioner, holistic therapies, walking, horse riding, using manifestation and home renovations/up cycling.
Lorraine Vernon
Area Manager Southside
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Clare Tebbutt
Social Worker Northside
Clare joined Apex Fostering in April 2023 as an experienced SSW. Previously she worked for a local authority for 25 years. Clare qualified as a Social Worker in 2004 and has been part of a fostering service since 2008.
15 years has given her a vast amount of knowledge, training and experience in the areas of children in care, fostering/special guardianship and adoption.
Clare is passionate about supporting foster carers, their families and the children they care for, with a focus on providing therapeutic support, and is committed to safe and nurturing environments, allow families to flourish.
Wife and mum of two children, she likes to travel with her family and do outdoor activities and long walks. She also enjoys gardening and horse riding!
Laura Casey
Compliance Officer
Laura has been working in business administrative roles since leaving university, and takes great pride in her work; being both accurate and highly efficient. She has a great eye for detail and ensures everything that needs doing, gets done!
Laura is also planning to foster children herself in the future, and believes that a strong support network is key. She is extremely proud to be part of Apex Fostering, where providing homes where children thrive is our daily focus.
In Laura’s spare time, she enjoys listening to live music and going to concerts, cooking meals from different ethnic backgrounds and is very creative with knitting – where she successfully makes her own clothes! She also loves exploring new places with her fiancée.
Vicki Stringer
Placement Officer/ Admin
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Joann Pomphrett-Brown
Administrator
Jo recently joined the Apex Team, but has been involved with fostering for a number of years. Jo’s day-to-day role is admin support, where she thoroughly enjoys being highly efficient and getting things done!
Jo recently retired from fostering, but had previously been a foster carer looking after teenage boys with very complex needs, a role she was extremely devoted to. Her experience and kind nature is invaluable to our team. Furthermore, Jo has been an independent panel member for two different fostering agencies.
For the past 25 years, Jo has been a part-time yoga teacher and has now focused her attention on meditation and relaxation for the promotion of mental wellness. In her spare time, Jo is very passionate about the art of classical dressage training and spends as much time as she can with her beautiful horses.
Rae Evans
Content Manager
Rae joined our team earlier this year, and brings with her over 20 years of marketing, social media and editing experience. Previously Rae worked in publishing and was the Editor for numerous successful periodicals and websites.
Her educational background is in Business and Information Systems with languages and she later went on to specialise in military history. She speaks fluent French, and is also competent in German.
Rae is passionate about children’s education and specialises in children’s classical literature and history. Rae is devoted to historical preservation; especially regarding sacred battlefield land both here, in Europe and in the US. When Rae gets the chance, she spends her time doing historical re-enactments, making historically accurate clothing, attending ‘old school’ folk festivals and travelling to heritage sites.