Healthcare worker in patient home banner

Who we are

We give those who use and deliver health and social care a voice to influence positive change in services, nationally and locally.

Evolving Communities is an independent community interest company. We specialise in patient, public and stakeholder engagement and insight to help health and social care providers develop and improve services.

Our expertise

Our experience and knowledge enables us to understand the complex challenges faced by the heath and care system and the diverse needs and expectations of those who use and deliver services.

We recognise that service provision must develop to meet people’s changing care needs and the demand for new ways of delivering care. We use our professional skills and expertise to help find practical and effective solutions to achieve this aim.

Meet our team

Everyone in our team is committed to listening and collaborating with stakeholders to help shape and improve health and social care.

Our Board of Directors

Evolving Communities CIC is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board is responsible for business strategy and development and good governance, to ensure we achieve quality and impact in all we do. Our Board members have a wealth of experience and skills gained in the health, commercial and voluntary sectors.

Nick Swash, Chair of the Board

Nick has a proven track record in sales, marketing, and business development, along with extensive experience in strategy and business growth across both private and public sectors, spanning a wide range of products and services. He is excited about the potential of AI to enhance the workplace and improve lives. With expertise in organisational transformation and team leadership, Nick believes that while nothing drives results like an effective team, building one remains the greatest challenge.

Ron Jarman

Ron has a strong background in procurement and supply chain, both home and abroad, along with leadership roles in business development and consultancy. He is an experienced and active Chair and Non-Executive Director with roles across a range of organisations. He is a fervent supporter of the NHS and the role it can play in creating a healthier and fairer society.

John Procter

John has extensive management experience in service delivery, innovation in patient engagement and customer focus from his work in the NHS and Life Sciences industry. His career has followed a constant theme of securing better services, experiences, access to health innovations and improved outcomes for people, patients and their families. His strategic approach to patient first and experience in translating this to practical action enables effective engagement with communities and stakeholders during the challenge of change. He believes it is most important to promote the role of public voice and patient empowerment widely in health, wellbeing and other parts of our society.

Our central services team

We have a central team of senior managers and specialists who are experienced in public service and charity management; communications, engagement and research; HR, finance, and business administration. We collaborate with and support colleagues and partners across all parts of our business to ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients and those who use the services they provide.

Lucie Woodruff, Chief Executive Officer

With over 20 years’ experience of working in the voluntary sector, supporting patient and public involvement, Lucie has built great relationships with health and care commissioners and providers to ensure patients and people are at the heart of their policy and service development.

Helen Webb, Chief Operating Officer Community Voice and Involvement

After managing housing, care and support services for vulnerable adults, Helen took her passion for helping people and shaping the services they use and became a Community Engagement and Investment specialist. Her aim in life is to see a world where people can enjoy a healthy life that works for them in their communities. Helen’s role in Evolving Communities is to support our staff and consultants and make sure they have what they need to deliver great services.

Donna Butland, Chief Operating Officer MNVP and SUV

With over 7 years’ of experience working in the Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) world, both in Somerset and at NHS England, Donna now brings her experience and passion into leading our MNVP’s hosted by Evolving Communities and developing the future of our Service User Voice. Although Donna’s own experience of maternity care led her into this work, she is now a passionate ally and advocate representing the needs of all, and most importantly, those who are vulnerable to having the poorest outcomes.

Shona Holt, Communications Lead

With a background in local government, Shona worked with education and community organisations before joining the health and care sector a decade ago. She develops our websites, looks after our social media channels and uses her design skills to create quality, branded merchandising and communications materials, including published reports, supporting all our staff to enhance the work they do locally.

Camille Clarke, Research and Marketing Lead

Before joining Evolving Communities, Camille studied a master’s degree and worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Bath. There, she developed a love of research and gained knowledge in data analysis, data presentation and storytelling. Camille guides our local teams about these areas for their research and engagement projects and supports the development of our consultancy work.

Helen West, Team Support Manager

Helen is responsible for business administration across our whole organisation, including finance, HR, and operational support for our office based and hybrid teams. She also supports our CEO and Directors. Helen has worked in the voluntary sector for many years. She enjoys the variety of the team support role and makes sure our customers, staff and suppliers receive excellent standards of service and support.

Our consultants

We sometimes commission specialist consultants to deliver projects on our behalf, with direction and support from our central team, or to undertake research and engagement projects to support the work of our local services.

If you’re interested in working with us as a consultant, find out more

Work with us

Do you need expert help with community engagement, service evaluation or co-production? Are you looking for support to manage a local service or project that uses stakeholder engagement to improve health and social care​? Find out more about our approach and get in touch with our team today.