Well Doncaster are very excited to welcome two new members to the team, James and Kerry, who will be working as a Well Doncaster officers. We hope you will all join us in offering a warm welcome to the new North and East officers for the team….

Meet the new Well Doncaster officer for North who will be taking over from Marianne Turner. Marianne Turner has taken a different role in the Well Doncaster team as an Improvement Officer and will be leading on Active Communities, working with Get Doncaster Moving to embed physical activity into communities.

Hi, my name is James Parsonage. I’m originally from Staffordshire but relocated to be with my girlfriend, so if we ever meet at least the accent is explained.  I work for the Well Doncaster Team as a Public Health Officer and I’m brand new to the role as of January 2021. I am very eager to engage with the local communities and make a positive impact. The area is relatively new to me, but I’ve heard encouraging things about local organisations, businesses and the local people who live and breathe Doncaster. I’m eager to soak up what the residents think and feel for the locality and will try my best to enhance and improve the health and well-being and quality of life of the local residents.

When I’m not working, I tend to find myself in one of three places, all are huge hobbies of mine and they consist of football coaching, the gym or spending time with my better half going on long walks or hikes, taking in the scenery and getting some fresh air.

I enjoy helping and bringing out the best in people as well as trying to be the best version of myself. Hence why I coach a local football team where I’m originally from. I used to play professional football for Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club but a couple of serious knee injuries curtailed that career path, so now I spend my Saturdays and a few week days trying to develop and enhance young aspiring footballers to be the best that they can be, whether that’s how they conduct themselves on or off the pitch or helping them hone their football skills.

I have and always will try to keep myself fit and healthy and physical and mental health well-being has played a massive role in my life. Professional sport helped me gain an understanding of what it is to perform at peak levels but now my experience and qualifications have given me an overall understanding of what well-being and health is all about. I’ve completed a degree in Sports Science and have undertaken qualifications at level 4 in cancer rehab and mental health rehab, in addition I have a level 3 Diploma as a GP Exercise Referral Specialist. I am a personal trainer level 3 and gym instructor level 2, so I like to think I have an extensive knowledge of health and well-being and look forward to motivating, supporting and advising the communities I will be working with.

If you have any thoughts, or ideas on how we can really make an impact in the North of Doncaster please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I welcome all ideas and thoughts and look forward to working together with you all to create a positive feeling, creating unity in the community based on a healthy lifestyle and healthy living , after what has been a very tough year for everyone.

and now the Well Doncaster officer for East…Kerry will be taking over from Jessica Woodward who has left us to carry on her studies at Durham University.

Hi I am Kerry. I am the new East locality Public Health Worker for Well Doncaster.

I am new to this role but not new to the East area. I first started volunteering at the DN7 foodbank before moving on to become a volunteer at the East Family hub in Stainforth. Within my role at the Family hub I led on a service known as ‘Parents Voice’. Parents voice was a real contribution to the Family hub service and meant that the service could be shaped with the help of the parents voice to serve their needs. After volunteering for a year at the Family hub, I was successfully employed by DMBC to work as an Early years development worker. In this role I helped hard to reach families access services in the local community..

I live with my husband, three children and my dog. As a family we love going on adventures and exploring the outside. We go on many walks around Doncaster and we love to find new walking routes too. We have very busy lives during the week, so, it’s nice to spend time together on a weekend. I love catching up with friends, family and keeping connected with my local community. We also like to spend a lot of time with the children when we’re at home and we often have fun trying our hand at baking and other at home family fun activities. Family time is very important in our house.

I am very excited to work with the Well Doncaster team and the public health service to help with the wider community and listening to local voices to help shape the community and bring it to it’s full potential. I have always lived in a close community so I know the real value of supporting one another. I look forward to meet new members in the communities of Stainforth, Thorne and Moorends.

We are very excited to have them both on board and look forward to seeing the work evolve in the communities!