Debra Walker

My name is Debi Walker.  I was brought up in Worsley, Manchester.  When I left school I trained as a nurse at Bolton and Salford college of Nursing and Midwifery, where three years later I qualified as a Registered General Nurse.  I have worked in various areas and hospitals and I have had a lot of varied and valuable experiences working with people of all ages in diverse circumstances.

I met my husband Dave in the late 90’s.  We have two children Ryan aged 8 and Holly aged 7.  Our son Ryan was born very prematurely at 28 weeks.  My husband and I knew from the start that Ryan was going to be disabled and have a high level of support needs.  Prior to having Ryan I had limited experiences around ‘disability’ and my husband and I were in a world of complete disbelief and shock at how difficult the support systems were to access and understand.

When Ryan was 4 years old my positive attitude and high expectations for him made me realise that I had something to offer other parents of disabled children.  I became a governor at a local Nursery School and then went on to be the Chair of Governors.  I then began to run a support group for the parents of children with additional needs.  I found it very rewarding because I had the experience to signpost parents to the people I knew could support them, whilst at the same time the parents were all gaining mutual support from each other.

In 2006/2007 I undertook the Partners in Policymaking course in Wigan, which is a leadership development course.  I graduated from the course and gained the skills, confidence and strategies which encouraged me to change my career.  I wanted to help parents so they didn’t have to make the difficult journey Dave and I had made.  I used all the experience I had gained doing voluntary work and combined this with my nursing experience in order to have the necessary experience to apply for my current job.  I am now a Parent Participation Worker for Bury, working at Bury Parent Partnership and am employed by Together Trust.  I still do my nursing one night a week.  My role at Parent Partnership involves promoting family leadership in Bury, maintaining and monitoring a parent’s forum and website and empowering and supporting parents of children with additional needs.  Earlier this year I completed a National Altogether Better Course in Loughborough, which was for parents and professionals sustaining a national network of champions in Personalisation.  I also trained in Scotland as a Person Centred Planner and I have a particular interest in Graphic Facilitation, which I have also had training in.

As a parent of a child with additional needs/disabilities I am aware of the difficulties of family life but also as a working mum I see myself as a positive role model.

Please feel free to contact me should you require any further information.

debiwalker@togethertrust.org
mobile – 07827560838