Dave’s first role in health and social care was as a volunteer in a needle exchange in 2003.

Since then, Dave has worked across housing/homelessness, outreach, rehabilitation, substance misuse, offending, young people, peer provision and complex needs.

His work in these areas has been within a range of roles, including: voluntary, service user-facing, teaching, advisory, mentoring, managerial, director and trustee positions.

Dave has a strong track record of building strategic and partnership focused delivery of safe, effective, caring and impactful services for the people that need them the most, making sure they are accessible to all.

Leading our activities in the North-West of England, Dave is responsible for translating organisational strategic intent into deliverable outcomes, that give both value for money and a positive impact for the communities Via works in.

Liz joined Via in February 2018 and has over 25 years’ experience working in the drug and alcohol field.

Liz originally started working as a frontline practitioner in a residential detox unit. More recently she has managed a variety of community drug and alcohol services in London.

Liz has also worked in the homelessness field and managed outreach services and hostel provision. She has extensive experience of setting up new services and building good relationships with NHS partners.

Liz completed a six-year part-time degree in Labour and Trade Union Studies in 2014 and is also an ACAS qualified workplace mediator and Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered manager.

At Via, Liz manages a portfolio of services across London, including those where we work in partnership with NHS trusts.

Liz also manages Via’s organisational project that is working towards the micro elimination of hepatitis C within our services.

Paul has a passion for supporting and creating conditions in which people can reach their potential and lead meaningful lives.

He has 23 years’ experience working in the social care sector across forensic mental health, criminal justice and substance misuse.

Starting off on the frontline as a support worker, Paul worked with mentally disordered offenders and then as a drug interventions worker leading on a local prolific and other priority offender scheme.

Over the last 15 years, Paul has worked in different managerial roles encompassing, service delivery, performance management, quality improvement and governance lead roles.

He has experience and keen interest in coaching and development, use of digital technologies, service design, pathway development and service user journey refinement.

Paul also has qualifications in marketing management, digital technologies and leadership and management in health and social care.

Vanessa began her career as a prison officer at HMP Peterborough.

Her first role in substance misuse was at HMP Peterborough as a CARATS worker and she moved into the community when she first joined Via as a practitioner in Bedfordshire.

Since then Vanessa has worked in a range of substance misuse services including DIP/IOM services, prison treatment and recovery services, integrated drug and alcohol services, and in a residential detox facility.

Vanessa also has experience as a Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered manager and has supported and overseen a number of successful CQC inspections.

Vanessa has significant experience of quality and governance and worked at Via as a quality manager and most recently as a senior manager responsible for organisational quality and continuous improvement at SMART CJS.

Vanessa has also been a volunteer for over five years at a Rape Crisis Centre local to her home and in 2019 was elected as a joint Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. She’s a champion for women’s equality and is also passionate about driving forward LGBTQ+ inclusion within services.

As an Area Director at Via, Vanessa manages a portfolio of services across London and the home counties, focusing on leading teams to deliver high-quality care.