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 is also a registered immigration adviser at Level 2.

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 - Tuesdays & Thursdays
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.

LYDIA TSANG

Information Officer - Mon, Tue & Fri / Project Officer (Hong Kong BNO Support) 
Email: lydia@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Lydia joined CHAWREC in February  2022. She has a Business Administration degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She serves as both the Information Officer for administration and reception duties and as the Project Officer for Hong Kong BNO support. She is enthusiastic about assisting and supporting Hong Kong BNO holders as they settle into the local community.

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

Asylum & Refugee Support Worker / Teaching Assistant
Experience & Skills
Dina is our Arabic-speaking support worker, assisting in our ESOL classes. In addition, she provides various forms of support to asylum seekers and refugees in the area. She initially began as a volunteer interpreter to aid our classes and help refugees settle in, but in 2017, she was taken on as staff as a part-time teaching assistant.

Nicola Oldfield

ESOL Tutor 
Experience & Skills
Nicola has extensive experience as a teacher of ESOL, German and French in college, university, community and business settings. Nicola has been working with CHAWREC for over 10 years and established the first ESOL classes at the Unity Centre. She also established and taught bespoke ESOL and ESOL Family Learning classes for refugees arriving in the area under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme, as well as for Afghan families in hotel accommodation, and ESOL for Ukrainian guests. Nicola teaches the higher ESOL drop-in class and accredited classes at the Unity Centre, and, as a volunteer, a weekly ESOL classes for asylum seekers. In addition, Nicola delivers Volunteer and ESOL Awareness training within CHAWREC and to outside agencies. 

Sophie Freeman 

Head of ESOL
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 teaches our higher level Entry 3 and Level 1 ESOL accredited classes at the Unity Centre, Chester.

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.

NEgin Faninam

Volunteer Coordinator  
Tel: 01244 400730
Email: negin@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Negin joined CHAWREC as our Volunteer Coordinator in March 2024. With several years of experience volunteering with asylum seekers and refugees, she has gained deep insight into the unique challenges faced by both volunteers and the organizations that rely on them. Negin is passionate about creating meaningful volunteer experiences and ensuring that CHAWREC’s volunteers feel supported, valued, and empowered to make a positive impact.

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 Adviser/E-Visa Support 



Kelda works in our Immigration team.




Elsie Shute

ESOL Outreach Manager
Email: kelsie@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Elsie have almost 20 years' experience of teaching languages, and recently started teaching ESOL at CHAWREC. She love working here with all our wonderful staff and students. Her role as Outreach Manager is quite varied, and she teaches at all levels in Chester, Northwich and Crewe.

Charlotte webber

ESOL Teacher and Admin Support
Email: charlotte@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Charlotte has been an ESOL and EFL teacher for many years. She has experience of teaching students from many different parts of the world. She also works as part of the ESOL Support team.

Iryna dubova

ESOL Teacher / Ukrainian  Support Worker
Email: iryna@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Iryna supports our Ukrainian ESOL classes. 

DALIA AKOOD

BAME Health Inequalities Officer 
Email: dalia@chawrec.org.uk
Experience & Skills
Dalia joined CHAWREC in mid-October to work on Bridging the Gap, a project focused on reducing healthcare disparities for ethnic minorities. Originally from Sudan, Dalia brings cross-cultural expertise and a strong healthcare background. She holds an MBBS degree from Ahfad University in Sudan and completed a Master's in Public Health at the University of South Wales in 2020. Dalia has extensive experience working with charities that support refugees and asylum seekers, including SHAP in Runcorn, the British Red Cross in Liverpool, and many agencies as an Arabic interpreter.
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