We’re delighted to introduce 4 new members of our staff team at Learning Disability Wales: Rhian McDonnell (Accessible Communications Officer), Iwan Good (Membership Events and Engagement Co-ordinator), and Nicola Alsept (Finance Administrator).

We asked Michael, Rhian, Iwan and Nicola to tell us about themselves, and their roles at Learning Disability Wales. You can read Michael’s profile here, Rhian’s profile here, and Nicola’s profile here.

A young man with spiky brown hair and a grey jumper, standing with his hands behind his back, and smilingIwan

I recently joined the events team at Learning Disability Wales, working alongside Simon Rose, who is our Events and Networks Manager. My role includes developing and maintaining our membership records, helping to organising our events, and assisting our communications team.

I knew Learning Disability Wales would be a great fit for myself as I had a very positive experience of volunteering for All Wales People First and other disability organisations as a student, and I also enjoyed a short placement here a few years ago.

I have a particular passion for filmmaking and all things to do with information technology, having built a few computers.  I am a fluent Welsh speaker having been educated through the medium of Welsh. I like to run to keep fit, and I ran my first Cardiff Half Marathon for Gig Buddies Cymru in March 2022.  I have since run the Swansea and Bristol half marathons.  I enjoy swimming and exercising at my local gym and to relax on weekends – I love a good film and enjoy getting spooked by the latest horror movie!

My personal values are strongly aligned to the principles of equality and human rights. My voluntary work helped me to understand the social model of disability and the barriers to independent living faced by people with learning disabilities. I am extremely happy to have the opportunity as a member of the Learning Disability Wales team to support the rights of people with learning disabilities. I am looking forward to getting to know our members and to make a key contribution to the work of Learning Disability Wales. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to support the rights of people with learning disabilities as a member of our team.