Nancy Williams

Nancy and kids

Nancy Williams is the Executive Director and Founder of The Studio ADHD Centre – a registered charity established in 2001.

Nancy was born in Dorking and educated at Dorking Grammar School. She was always actively involved with local politics and community affairs while living in Dorking.

Nancy is married, has four sons and has a lifetime interest in the welfare of young people in all areas of youth work, health and social care.


 
1977

Nancy and her family moved to Capel where she became a member of Capel Parish Council for four years. As Youth Leader at Capel Youth Centre, she oversaw the fundraising and redevelopment of the centre in 1983. She worked part-time at the Mulberry Youth Centre, initiated the Motor Project and raised lottery funds to refurbish Bookham Boys Club in 1986.

1984-1988

Nancy was Project Manager of the Leslie House Hostel for homeless young offenders until it was awarded a refurbishment grant and long-term lease from Stonham Housing Association due to its successful integration into the local community. During this period she worked alongside the Probation Service and trained with the Southern Addictions Advisory Service in drug, alcohol and mental health rehabilitation for young adults.

1989-1997

Identifying the need to provide preventative services for an earlier age group, Nancy became Principal and Founder of Westcott Hill House, an independent residential home for boys aged 11-17, many of whom had ADHD and challenging behaviour.

During this period in her career she trained in social care and counselling at Guildford College and qualified as a neuro-linguistic programming practitioner. She also further trained in Cognitive and Solution Focused Therapy, and the Human Givens approach at Regents College.

Unfortunately, in 1996 she and her husband lost a son in tragic circumstances and closed the home for family reasons.

1999-2001

Recognising the growing awareness of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and lack of resources to support families whose children have the condition, Nancy persuaded her husband to build and establish the original Studio ADHD Centre in Chart Lane, Dorking. This was registered as a charity in 2001 and remains relatively unique in its approach in the UK.

2001

She was awarded the Community Champion Award, together with the Silver Service Award in 2006, from Surrey Clubs for Young People in recognition of her work in Surrey youth services.

2003-2008

Nancy was employed as a personal advisor for Connexions, specialising in ADHD and working with schools and multi-agencies across Surrey.

2008-2013

The demand for the services, particularly educational support and the activities programme offered at The Studio, have increased dramatically over the past four years and were funded by Surrey Youth Development Service, YOF, Surrey Children's Fund, Henry Smith Charity and many others.

However, recent cuts in funding have reduced staffing and put a strain on the charity, and new ways of funding need to be addressed. Nancy continues her role as Director and Senior Therapist, assisted by Sarah Allott and a team of volunteers.

 

Nancy is a member of Surrey Community Action and has trained extensively in all aspects of management, supervision and governance skills for services within the voluntary and charity sectors.

Latest news

Annual report published

Our last two annual reports can be found on the menu under "About us".

The case for early intervention

PACE report

Our "Preventative Action is Cost-Effective" (PACE) report presents the economic and social arguments for providing early intervention and preventative services for children and young people with ADHD, high functioning autism and related learning disabilities in Surrey.

The Studio's multi-systemic approach has been shown to achieve positive outcomes in such cases and, as this report shows, it has the expertise to fill this gap in special needs provision.

View or download the PACE report.


CAMHS survey results

CAMHS

Following a period of research among parents, carers and young people who completed online surveys and attended stakeholder events across Surrey between July and October 2014, Surrey's Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) has produced its Engagement Report, which summarises key messages regarding perceived unmet needs and priorities for the service.


Family Voice

Family Voice Surrey

Family Voice Surrey (FVS) is the official Parent Carer Forum for Surrey, working with key decision-makers in education, health and social care to represent the families of children and young people with additional needs. You can read more about it on its website.

We urge you to sign up to be represented by FVS.