Staff

Our Staff & Tutors

Our team is the beating heart of the Centre; all of them bring special skills and experience to the organisation and our users. Here you will find more details about each of them and their roles. 

Shantele Sutherland

Director
Experience & Skills
Shantele has been the Director of the Race & Equality Centre since the end of 1999. She holds a law degree and qualified as a barrister before going into discrimination casework, working previously for the old Merseyside Racial Equality Council.
Shantele is the chief operating officer and she has overall responsibility for the organisation, supervising all aspects of the services as well as the running of the Unity Centre. She has recently taken her immigration exams and is now qualified to provide immigration advice at Level 1.

Karen Manley

Immigration Adviser
Experience & Skills
Karen joined the casework team in 2018 doing discrimination and employment work. She has an LLB (Hons) Law degree through Open University and has previously worked for Citizen’s Advice as an Employment and Discrimination Caseworker. In 2019 she qualified as an immigration adviser at Level 1 and now works solely on immigration matters. She is registered with the OISC. 

Anita Dean

Information Officer - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Experience & Skills
Anita Dean has been working for CHAWREC and The Unity Centre since 2010. She is responsible for the administration, reception and accounting for CHAWREC and The Unity Centre. Previously Anita worked for over 30 years as an Administrator in the printing industry.

Valerie Gould

Information Officer - Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Experience & Skills
Valerie Donnelly has been working for CHAWREC and The Unity Centre since July 2012. She has a degree in Modern Languages and has previously worked for various charities and educational organisations. She is responsible for the administration, reception, and social media for CHAWREC/The Unity Centre.

Ruth lane

ESOL Administrator
Email: ruth@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
 Ruth was an ESOL Tutor with CHAWREC for 4 years before moving into a support role. If you contact us about ESOL classes Ruth will be the person you speak to!



Dina Hussein

Arabic Teaching Assistant
Experience & Skills
Dina forms part of our ESOL teaching team working specifically with Syrian refugees through the Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme. She initially started as a volunteer interpreter to support our classes and help refugees settle in, but she was taken on as staff in 2017 as part time teaching assistant. 

Nicola Oldfield

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Nicola runs the advanced Conversational English Class in Chester and a lower level in Ellesmere Port as well as accredited ESOL classes in Chester. She is also one of the key tutors delivering bespoke English classes to refugees. 

Sophie Freeman 

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Sophie joined the team in 2020 and has been running our higher level Entry 3/Level 1 ESOL accredited classes in Chester.

Jessica Brearey 

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Jessica has been running both the lower level Conversational English Class and lower level ESOL accredited classes at the Unity Centre

catherine potts

ESOL Tutor 
Email: office@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Catherine teaches our ESOL classes at The Unity Centre, Neston and Tattenhall.


Abi williams

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Abi joined the team in 2022 and teaches ESOL to asylum seekers from a wide range of different countries and cultures. She also runs the women’s group at The Unity Centre with Liz Hignett. She is a Modern Languages graduate and speaks fluent French and Spanish.

Liz hignett

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Liz teaches our International Drop-in classes at The Unity Centre and also delivers  Women Only sessions at Tomorrow’s Women in Chester.

 amy savas

Gypsy and Traveller Community Engagement Officer, Cheshire East  
Tel: 01244 400730
Email: amy@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Amy joined CHAWREC in March 2023.  She has a BA(Hons) degree in Health Studies and a Master's degree in (Msc)Business Management.  Amy is part of the Transforming Engagement with BAME Communities project  which involves finding out about health care needs of Gypsy/ Traveller service users throughout Cheshire East and feeding back to services to ensure equality through education and cultural awareness .



Zoe Arendse 

BAME Health Inequalities Officer, Cheshire West
Experience & Skills
Zoë joined CHAWREC in January 2022 as a BAME Health Inequalities Officer, working on the 'Bridging the Gap' project in Cheshire West. She holds a Psychology degree obtained through The University of the Western Cape and University of South Africa. Most of Zoë’s career has been in community healthcare with a focus on mental health. At CHAWREC, Zoë is focusing on bridging the gap in health inequalities within BAME communities throughout Cheshire West.

Lydia Tsang 

Project Officer (Hong Kong BNO Support) 
Experience & Skills
Lydia joined CHAWREC in February 2022. She has a Business Administration degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2021 via the BNO scheme, she is enthusiastic to assist and support Hong Kong BNO holders to settle in.

Lionel Lee

Project Officer (Hong Kong BNO Support) 
Experience & Skills
Lionel joined CHAWREC in February 2022. He has a Business Administration degree from The University of Warwick. Lionel moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2021 via the BNO scheme. As the Project Officer for Hong Kong BNO support, his role is to assist and support Hong Kong BNO holders in their integration to the local community

Kelda Manley 

Immigration Assistant 



Kelda works in our Immigration team.





 Emmanuel Serrano

Community Engagement Officer - Cheshire East
Tel: 07907 166328
Email: emmanuel@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Emmanuel joined CHAWREC in 2023 as our Community Engagement Officer, working on a project called ‘Transforming community engagement with BAME communities’. The project focuses on access to primary care for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in Cheshire East. 


kateryna Shyianove 

Bi Lingual Ukrainian  Support Worker
Email: via CHAWREC 01244 400730
Experience & Skills
Kateryna supports our Ukrainian ESOL classes. 

YULIIA HOLolOBOVe

Bi Lingual Ukrainian  Support Worker
Email: via CHAWREC 01244 400730
Experience & Skills
Yuliia supports our Ukrainian ESOL classes. 

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