Get to know us

We currently have around 150 Change Influencers representing 47 of the 60 services within Lancashire County Council. You can hear below from some of our current CI's on where they work, what they are interested in and why they got involved in the Network.

Adult Social Care – Ste Walker

Hi my name is Ste Walker and I'm a full-time dad to my son and daughter. I set up a group for solo parent families on Facebook called Solo Parents United Northwest with a black and gold log of a mountain which now has 1.5k members. I am also launching a football club for solo parent families which is going live in April 2024. I work full-time in the Sensory Team as a Rehabilitation Officer and my job involves teaching visually impaired people independent living skills and learning to use the long cane to get around the community.

I joined the Change Influencer Network to share feedback from staff to with management to help influence positive changes within the Council.

Customer Access – Charlotte Catterall and Clare Blackburn

We are Charlotte and Clare, Change Influencers for Customer Access Service (CAS). As part of our roles we're involved in a lot of change and continuous improvement, so when the opportunity came about to join the Network we thought it would be good to share the work we have done and are planning to do but also having the opportunity to learn from other Changes Influencers' experiences. The Network allows for ideas and suggestions to be shared across Services, promoting collaborative working which we enjoy, and being a part of the events held by the Network. 

We have more recently been heavily involved in the implementation of our new telephony platform which was carefully managed to consider all aspects of change and communication – keeping customers at the forefront of our mind and making sure the new system didn't impact their journey but made improvements for a more positive experience. 

Early Help – Sharon Seed

Hello! My name is Sharon Seed and I am a Senior Family Support Worker on the Family Intensive Support Team covering the Hyndburn and Ribble Valley area and I am new to the role of Change Influencer. I joined CFW through the most recent restructure in 2020 where I was successful in gaining the role of SFSW from being a FSW in CSC. I feel that I am a solution focussed, enthusiastic, forward thinker regarding service delivery and can be creative within this. I try to be objective and see the positive outcomes in all scenarios, however I am confident to challenge problems to seek out solutions. I utilise my skills as a Senior Family Support Worker, and those I learned as a Family Support Worker to be an excellent listener, good communicator, both verbally and written, and am not afraid to ask questions to clarify understanding for myself, or on behalf of others. I am confident in sharing ideas and opinions with others regarding problems and improvements in the workplace and have experience of this throughout my career, with key partner agencies, parents and carers, children and within my staff team that I manage.

Estates – Chris Bull, Dean Barlow and Margaret Wells

I am Margaret Wells, a Principal Estates Surveyor. I have worked at LCC since September 2021, and joined the Change Influencer group at its inception. I am keen to enable services to be the best that they reasonably can be, rather than repeat past processes as a matter of habit. It has been enjoyable to meet a wider range of people through the CI Network, and to gain an improved understanding of corporate initiatives.

As Change Influencers within Estates, we have set up a Focus Group to follow through on points raised around Staff Survey issues. We have also reviewed some of the template documents used within our service, and held discussions on effective ways to conduct our service.

Planning and Environment – Jane Hardy-Jones and Niamh O'Sullivan

Hi everyone, I'm Jane, a Senior Environment Officer within the Environment and Climate Team. I work on the Council's Environment and Climate Strategy, which involves projects and policies centred around reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although very new to the Network, I wanted to get involved with it so that I could connect with colleagues outside of my service and learn more about the organisation's improvement journey

Hi all, I'm Niamh and I am the Planning Lead in the Infrastructure Delivery Team. I have worked for the Council for over 16 years. I joined the Change Influencers as it is so important to not only understand but also to help influence change in the workplace.