Meet the Team

Owen Walker
Autism AIM Manager

Owen is Manager for the entire Autism AIM service, including Bradford and Craven Autism AIM, Leeds Autism AIM and the Autism AIM – Mental Health Equity Project.

Owen helps to oversee the AIM team and service as a whole. He previously worked as Leeds Autism AIM’s Volunteer Coordinator, helping to support both their volunteers and people in mentoring matches.

Sam Pidgeon
Coordinator

Sam is the coordinator of the service, which means that he talks to all new referrals and deals with any enquiries about the service.

He also works as The Advonet Group’s Asking You! Volunteer Coordinator, supporting their Citizen Advocates.

In his spare time, you can usually find Sam working on his various knitting projects.

Sam has a background in psychology, which he studied at the University of Warwick before joining The Advonet Group.

Luke Aylward
Information Officer

Luke is Information Officer for the entire Autism AIM service. His role includes looking after our website and social media accounts, producing resources and our newsletter.

He is also Communications and Network Officer for The Advonet Group, the charity that we are part of. Luke is autistic himself, lives in the area and listens to heavy music in his spare time.

Georgia Holden-Burnett
MHEP Deputy Manager

Georgia is Deputy Manager for the Autism AIM Mental Health Equity Project (MHEP).

Their role entails creating autism-specific resources, developing and delivering training, as well as co-facilitating peer support sessions.

Previously, they studied a Philosophy and Politics BA, as well being a founding committee member of the Leeds University Union’s Neurodivergent Society and being an elected member of University of East Anglia Student Union’s Environmental and Ethical Committee.

Cat Foote
Peer Development Worker

Cat is one of our Peer Development Workers. She co-facilitates the Mental Health Peer Support Group for Bradford and Craven Autism AIM and also works on some of our resources.

Before joining the MHEP team, Cat worked as a Universal Advocate for Leeds Autism AIM and The Advonet Group’s Community Advocacy team.

Nelly Doherty
Peer Development Worker

Nelly is one of our Peer Development Workers, co-facilitating our Mental Health Peer Support Group for Bradford and Craven Autism AIM.

Before joining our team, she worked on the Autism Health Access Projects for both Leeds Autism AIM and Bradford and Craven Autism AIM.

In her spare time, she likes to put together resources and research regarding Autism and ADHD. She is a Masters student studying Sports Nutrition, with a special interest in disordered eating. The goal being to implement different interventions at the NHS and do public speaking on topics of passion (e.g., autism awareness). She also like to do arts and crafts, play with her pet rabbit and gaming.