Meet the team that drives us

Mike Jackson

Mike is the Headteacher of Cleaswell Hill School, a large all-age special school operating across two sites in Guidepost, Northumberland.

Alongside this role, he supports other special schools through both advisory work and governance. Mike brings extensive experience in working with children and young people with special educational needs, as well as in leading a complex organisation in a challenging educational landscape. He is committed to contributing this expertise to support the ongoing success of Blyth Star Enterprises.

Tony Railton

Formerly a Registered Nurse, Tony held various mental health practitioner, manager and senior project director roles for the NHS in North East England for over forty-seven years.

Returning to university and training as a leadership and performance coach, he practiced for several years as a confidential coach with health professionals and managers. More recently, he concluded a long-term project consultancy role, assisting with the delivery of new state-of-art facilities at Northgate Hospital, St Nicholas Hospital and Ferndene Children’s Hospital.

Tony has served as a Governor at Mowbray Primary School for many years, is a charity Trustee at Choysez – an educational provider for children excluded from mainstream school, and has been a volunteer youth leader with Stakeford Scout Group for about thirty-five years. Tony joined the Board of Trustees at Blyth Star in January 2025.

Sharon Herron

Trustee

Sharon is a prominent and successful local business woman and licensed publican of the award winning Keel Row country pub and restaurant in Seaton Delaval. Sharon is a recipient of a Northumberland Local Heroes accolade in recognition of her services to the community and for her fundraising efforts on behalf of a number of local and national charities including Blyth Star Enterprises, of which Sharon has been a major supporter both financially and in raising awareness of mental health issues.

Stephen Gibson

Trustee

Stephen is a Partner in a Firm of Solicitors based in Blyth and is one of the Founders of Blyth Star Enterprises. Stephen seeks to bring to the charity the benefit of his local knowledge and business experience and regularly advises on legal matters.

Tim Chrisp JP

Finance Director and Executive Chairman

With 30 years’ experience working within the NHS in various senior positions spanning finance, facilities, information management and technology and latterly, commissioning and performance and assurance – almost exclusively with providers of mental health and learning disability services, Tim became involved with Blyth Star Enterprises in a voluntary capacity in 1989. Tim now holds a dual role as Executive Chairman on our Board of Directors and Finance Director.

Tim is also a serving magistrate, a school governor with a specific interest in special educational needs, a volunteer youth leader with the Scout Association and was also until recently a member of the Local Research Ethics Committee.

Julie Dixon

Chief Executive Officer

With over 35 years’ experience in the health and social care sector, Julie took over the reins as CEO at Blyth Star in 2022. A graduate of Sunderland University, Julie has extensive knowledge of developing packages of support for individuals with complex needs.

Working in partnership with colleagues and external agencies to ensure that individuals receive truly people-centric support, Julie is committed to enhancing the services our clients receive and maximising their independence in a safe and supportive environment.

Julie co-ordinates the people who provide the support, and regularly acts as a mentor for social work students.

Gordon Moore MBE

Consultant

Gordon has over 40 years’ experience working with people with mental health and learning disabilities and is one of the founding directors of Blyth Star Enterprises. He has worked as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, managed psychological therapy services and held a number of senior management positions throughout his career.

In 1990, Gordon became involved with the Greek mental health services in an advisory capacity and for 3 years was the President of the Asklepios Foundation, a European mental health organisation aimed at improving conditions for service users in Greece.

Having served as CEO at Blyth Star for 14 years, Gordon took a step back from front line operations in April 2022 to assume a consultancy role within the organisation. In 2020, Gordon was awarded an MBE for Services to Mental Health and Learning Disabilities in Northumberland. Gordon was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2025.

Neil Hedley

Day Services Operations Manager

Having been involved in the wood trade for most of his adult life, Neil joined Blyth Star Enterprises in 1996 to head up our Woodfuel and Woodwork services. With a positive attitude towards customer service and the ability to build productive, strategic relationships, Neil has grown The Woodfuel Centre into a successful Community Interest Company and has evolved the service to provide continuous development opportunities and training for our service users. In 2023, Neil took on a new role as Day Services Operations Manager, giving him a holistic role across all of Blyth Star’s social care day services to ensure that we continue to work as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Wendy Ferguson

Finance Manager

Wendy was recruited by Blyth Star in 2007 and is responsible for monitoring financial operations, planning, analysis and funding allocation.  She assists in the preparation of Annual Accounts, whilst being instrumental in the provision of financial data to Senior Executives, Departmental Managers and external organisations. Wendy also manages the charity’s growing fleet of vehicles to support our Outreach services.

Liz Robinson

Admin Manager

Drawing upon her extensive experience in secretarial and Personal Assistant roles, Liz joined the charity in 2001 to assume responsibility for ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of administrative services across the organisation, with particular emphasis on HR and payroll.

Carol Boyd

The Steamboat Day Services Manager

Having spent a number of years working in the adult social care sector supporting individuals with histories of substance misuse, Carol joined Blyth Star in October 2022 to lead the charity’s day service project at The Steamboat.

Carol is passionate about creating a safe space for adults with mental health needs and learning disabilities to come together to feel part of a community and develop living skills. To this end, Carol has been instrumental in the expansion of the service offered at The Steamboat, developing a diverse programme of training opportunities and activities to make the service more widely accessible and attractive to younger service users.

Graham Carr

Horticultural Services Manager

Graham joined the team at Blyth Star Enterprises in 2019. With a wealth of horticultural experience having previously worked in local garden centres and run his own garden maintenance business, Graham’s background, coupled with his extended diploma qualification in horticulture positioned him as an excellent fit for the Stakeford Nurseries team.

Graham has been instrumental in modernising processes at Stakeford Nurseries. His commitment to continuous improvement, especially in enhancing service delivery for clients, has been a driving force behind his contributions. Graham places utmost importance on customer and client experience, considering it paramount in his approach to his role.

Graham is passionate about learning and is currently working towards higher level qualifications in social care and management to further support him in his role at Horticultural Services Manager.

Susan Mosey

Living Support Services Manager

Susan joined Blyth Star in 2008, initially combining support work with tenancy management in our Community Rehabilitation and Outreach Services before taking on the Living Support Services Manager role in 2022. Susan is dedicated to ensuring our clients receive the highest quality support and encourages staff commitment to the core values of the charity, taking responsibility for the wellbeing of her staff team and the monitoring of internal quality standards.

Ann Marie Lister

Training Coordinator

Having established a good understanding of the charity through the provision of work experience placements to The Woodfuel Centre and Stakeford Nurseries in a previous employment, Ann Marie joined Blyth Star Enterprises in 2011 as an employment support worker. With a background in teaching and training development, Ann Marie has been instrumental to the management of all staff training at Blyth Star, as well as the implementation of three bespoke internal training programmes at the Stakeford Nurseries and The Woodfuel Centre on behalf of Blyth Star’s clients.