Meet the Team
Take a scroll down to hear a little more about the staff and management support team, and find out why they are so passionate about their work.
Simon Arthur
My name is Simon Arthur, and I’m incredibly proud to be the Manager of PCAS. I’ve been part of this charity since the day we opened in 1995. I first joined as a volunteer, and I was fortunate enough to later be offered the role of Manager — a role I still feel privileged to hold.
I’m deeply passionate about the work we do for vulnerable and disabled people across Shropshire. I’ve been in similar situations myself many times throughout my life, so I understand how vital it is to have someone by your side when everything feels overwhelming. That’s exactly what we aim to provide at PCAS: someone who will stand with you at your lowest moments, and still be there when things begin to improve.
We don’t offer quick fixes. Many of the people we support are held back by complex systems and processes. Our role is to help them navigate these barriers so they can achieve a better quality of life. Many have multiple disabilities or long‑term challenges, and we are committed to offering the long‑term support they need.
The last 12 months have been some of the toughest we’ve ever faced, but we are coming through it, stronger, more determined, and ready for the next 30 years. We care deeply about our community. Our team is local, experienced, compassionate, and driven by genuine empathy.
We know we can’t help everyone who needs us, funding is increasingly difficult to secure, and demand for our service continues to grow. We’ve had waiting lists for the last three years, which shows just how essential advocacy is. But we will never give up. We will always do everything we can to be here for the people who need us most.
If you ever find yourself unsure of where to turn, please turn to us. And if you don’t meet our criteria, we will help you find a service that can support you. Over 12,000 people have come to PCAS for help, and we’ve been here for every one of them.
My passion is helping others, and my team shares that passion. We will continue this work for many years to come. We are always looking for people who want to make a difference, whether as volunteers, trustees, fundraisers, or supporters. We serve the people of Shropshire, and we can’t do it without you.
Come and join us in making Shropshire a better, fairer place for vulnerable disabled people to live.
Glenda Crawshaw
I started working for PCAS back in 2009, having previously worked for Wrexham County Borough Council, Adult Social Care, as a project worker working with young adults with an early diagnosis of dementia. It was an ambition of mine to become an advocate, and it was absolutely the right choice for me. I feel comfortable in my role, having gained a lot of knowledge over the years working with vulnerable people, leading to my gaining a City & Guilds Level 3 Certificate in Independent Advocacy. I’ve such a passion for supporting and speaking up for disabled people, and nothing pleases me more than seeing someone I’ve supported moving on with their life. It can sometimes be a very challenging role, but with the support of everyone involved with our small charity, we support our clients through some very difficult times in their lives.
As the Assistant Manager, I hope to take some of the pressure off my Manager, when needed. We have a wonderful team at PCAS and are all so committed to our roles, and believe that this shows through in our results. There is no doubt that the need for Independent Advocates is rising steeply and this certainly shows in the length of our waiting list unfortunately. There has been an increase in the more complex cases recently too.
As Advocates we are not afraid to challenge decisions if desired and directed by our clients, sometimes it is daunting to do this alone, but if you have someone by your side, on your side, it suddenly becomes easier. We are those people who stand by you.
Wendy Timmis
I joined PCAS in October 2018 following a varied career history. I worked for the Department for Work and Pensions as a Benefit Administrator for 23 years. Following redundancy, I worked as a Care Support Worker for Mencap. This was a complete change of job role that gave me practical experience and my first insight into the challenges and vulnerability faced by young people with learning or physical disabilities. Most recently I`ve supported vulnerable pupils within the SEN department of a local secondary school as a Teaching Assistant.
Whilst looking for a new challenge, I saw the interesting role of Advocate advertised within Shropshire PCAS. After reading about the Charity’s purpose and the job description, I felt I could bring my skills and previous experience to this role. This was relevant experience when I recently had to source help for a family member.
I’m pleased to be part of this hardworking, dedicated team and I relish the opportunity to help and support people in the Shropshire area. The work is varied, interesting, sometimes frustrating, but also extremely rewarding.
I enjoy meeting and finding ways to help my clients. I’ve extended my own knowledge and I have great support from my colleagues. It’s a great feeling when a client achieves an outcome that means their life is positively enhanced and they can retain their dignity and independence.
Away from work my life revolves around my family, including four grandchildren and my Welsh Terrier. My interests are playing women`s cricket for my local club as a wicket keeper, listening to live music and travelling. I also volunteer weekly to help run a disability cricket session “Super 1’s” for age 12 to 25 year olds and it is one of the highlights of my week!
Ben Payne
Kindness means everything to me and joining PCAS was another way of making a difference. Volunteering is a huge focus of my life, and I always enjoy doing what I can to help the charity and everyone who benefits from the work.
Away from advocacy, I’m a person-centred counsellor supporting family, friends and partners of people living with cancer as well as young people.
I also have over 20 years’ experience in journalism, PR, marketing and operations, so I hope I have learnt things along the way that will help.
Outside work, I’m also a volunteer and volunteer speaker for the Teenage Cancer Trust and support the Love Button Movement too. I’m also passionate about attending live music events and have run the London Marathon and a half marathon in every country of the UK.
Lynne Davis
I joined PCAS in March 2020 after working for 20 years as an Independent Living /Direct Payments Advisor. This involved supporting people with a wide range of disabilities and also the elderly, who were eligible to receive funding for care from Shropshire Council and who wanted to arrange their care themselves by having a Direct Payment. This meant that they could choose who provided their care and how and when it was provided. Before this, I worked for 10 years for Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council helping to run an agency to provide both minor and major adaptations to the homes of disabled people through a Disabled Facilities Grant. I was able to provide support to the people I worked with to liaise with Social Workers and Occupational Therapists to ensure that they were informed of all their options to enable them to make informed choices in how their care packages/adaptations were delivered. Through this work, I had the opportunity to meet some of the PCAS advocates who were providing support to the same clients I was working with and I saw what a difference they made to these people by supporting them to make sure they understood what was being said and making sure their opinions were taken into account.
For many years, whenever anyone asked me what my perfect job would be I have always said “an advocate” as it would give me the opportunity to support people with a much wider range of support than I have been able to up to now and hopefully make a positive difference. I am looking forward to learning from my manager and colleagues at PCAS and making a difference to people’s lives by helping them to become more independent and empowered by providing the right level of support for them as individuals. I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity.
Jackie Copson
I joined PCAS in 2017 after a long and rewarding career in the NHS as a nurse and midwife. I left in 2025 to deal with some challenges that life was throwing at me but during that time I missed working as an Independent Advocate with PCAS immensely.
It is incredible to be back in the role doing what I love and working with a great team.
I have been fortunate during my time with PCAS to study for and achieve level 3 NVQ in advocacy and I am a great believer in lifelong learning.
Every day I learn new things with my clients, I don’t know everything, but I will do my best to find answers for my clients.
It is a great privilege to work in such a trusted position and to help clients to achieve their goals at a pace that suits them.
I would imagine that many people have not heard of Independent advocacy and that was certainly true in my case and I had not seen advocacy in action until I joined PCAS; it is sometimes a difficult concept to explain but it can change lives and have a huge impact for the most vulnerable people in our communities who are unable to advocate for themselves.
I love the autonomy that I have in my role and having access to the training that I wish to undertake. Helping my clients to have their voice heard, to access the services that they need and to resolve issues is incredibly rewarding.
Outside of work I enjoy walks with my dogs, reading and I am a great lover of history and the natural world.
Tarrah Lewis
As the Business Development Manager at Shropshire PCAS, I focus on strengthening our charity’s visibility, partnerships, and long‑term sustainability across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. My role centres on building meaningful relationships with local organisations, securing funding opportunities, and raising awareness of the vital advocacy support we provide to disabled adults in our community.
I am passionate about ensuring that PCAS continues to grow, adapt, and reach the people who need us most. I lead on developing new initiatives, community engagement, and clear, accessible communications that help people understand who we are and why our work matters.
With a strong background in communications, outreach, and charity development, I bring a people‑centred approach to everything I do. I believe deeply in the power of advocacy — in standing beside individuals during their most challenging moments and helping them navigate systems that can feel overwhelming or inaccessible.
Outside of work, I live in the Shropshire Hills with my partner, young son, and our black Labrador. Life at home can be wonderfully chaotic, but we feel incredibly lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the countryside.
At PCAS, I’m proud to work alongside a dedicated team who share the same values of compassion, respect, and empowerment. Together, we are committed to ensuring that vulnerable adults across Shropshire are heard, supported, and able to live with dignity and independence.
Alli Arthur
I’ve been with PCAS since 2007. I originally came from Exeter in Devon, moving to Shropshire in 1988. I have a daughter, son-in-law and an eight-year-old grandson with Autism, Learning Disabilities and PDA (pathological demand avoidance) who I look after most weekends.
I totally enjoy the challenges brought by our small charity, there is always something new to aim for such as the need to encapsulate statistics in a new way for our funders. I love the variety and “free hand” of organising my own workload.
We’re a “Team” at PCAS, which includes the Manager, all the Advocates and the support from our invaluable Trustees. As a small team, we’re all dedicated and enthusiastic.
I’m a bit of a data nerd! I do all the evaluation encapsulation, from building bespoke databases, financial sheets and building graphs from feedback forms. I provide all the statistics for reporting to our funders, each requiring information in a different format. I also deal with all the Advocates paperwork, inputting data, timesheets etc.
As a small Charity, we struggle for funding all the time, however no matter how hard we keep going, as we know that we help the most vulnerable people as well as those that are unable to get help elsewhere. I am proud when someone writes or phones to say how thankful they are to one of our Advocates. I know our Advocates go over and above what is required of them in order to do the best for their clients.
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Call: 01691 658 008 | email: simon@shropshirepcas.co.uk
Registered office:
Suite 1, The Willow Tree, Willow Street,
Oswestry, Shropshire, SY11 1AJ