The team
Standing at the coalface.
Facilitators, counsellors, trainers, and community advocates. Directors of Shift Together are unpaid; facilitators are compensated where we can.
Directors & facilitators
Eight humans.
- 01
Caroline Shanks
Founding Director · NLP Practitioner
Twenty-plus years working in mental health. Founded Shift Together to provide free, accessible support groups in her own communities — built on connection, not pathology.
- 02
Ellender Wildey
Director · MHFA Instructor · Online Facilitator
Freelance Mental Health First Aid instructor and a National Training Lead for MHFA Wales. Works with organisations across Wales to reduce stigma through education.
- 03
Louise
Counsellor · Facilitator
Counsellor grounded in autonomy, relationship, and the practical accessibility of therapeutic support inside the communities that need it most.
- 04
Patricia Withers
Director · Retired Physiotherapist
Community advocate with deep expertise in psychosomatic unity. Supports digital connectivity for members who join us online.
- 05
Echo Shanks
PR · Marketing & Social Media
Business and marketing graduate championing equality, diversity, and corporate engagement with mental-health messaging.
- 06
Kate Longbourne
Director · Education & Family Wellbeing
Thirty years in education. Specialises in family-centred wellbeing — the belief that what's best for the family is best for the child.
- 07
Susan Smith
Facilitator · Registered with Care Standards Wales
Thirteen-plus years of group facilitation in health and social care. Fundraiser, connector, and champion of community inclusion.