Glyn Meredith
Chief Executive
After leaving school I worked in a bank and studied accountancy. Outside of work and studies I wanted to do something more fulfilling with my time, whilst giving back to my local community, which is when I started volunteering at a local charity with disabled people. This changed my outlook on life, and my career in many ways.
Being able to support others to promote their independence was a real privilege. Having observed the challenges disabled people and their families experience firsthand, It inspired me to want to change things for the better, and support disabled people to have more choice and control of their lives, and be active citizens in their communities.
After my initial experiences supporting others in the community, I qualified as a social worker, and have since managed a range of services for disabled people including fostering agencies, residential and nursing homes, supported living services, community short breaks, crisis intervention programs for families at risk of breakdown, and preschool services for children waiting for a diagnosis.
More recently as a Director for Wales with Leonard Cheshire I have developed and lead a community strategy on increasing community programs to enhance our reach and impact across Wales for disabled people. This strategy included programs that support employment opportunities, on the job work placements, skills, and training for individual development. This strategy included supporting vulnerable people to volunteer to coproduce and work in social enterprises. This work has enabled fundraising opportunities across many income streams, and we have achieved a lot, but there is still much more to do. All the above has always been lead and informed by the people we support.
I am passionate that disabled people need to be catalyst for societal change and must be given the opportunity and support to influence the agenda for local and national legislation. I am very excited about the opportunities Cartrefi Cymru Co-operative has to enhance the lives of the people we support and look forward to embarking on this journey, through a co-operative model.
On a personal note I love to spend time with my two boys and am keen on sports and staying fit and like to enter running, cycling and tri-athlon events now that I am too old to play rugby! I think I have a great sense of humour although you may not agree! I am keen to listen to everyone and talk about Cartrefi’s next steps and how we meet challenges together.