Brian didn’t have the easiest of upbringings, something that now drives him to make a positive impact on as many children as possible. Born in County Cork, Ireland, he grew up inside the care system. Placed in foster care at a very early age, he encountered multiple placements before he was finally adopted by two incredible people. 

“Amazing people, I was lucky enough to grow up and call them Mum and Dad”

At the age of 3, he moved to England where he struggled greatly within the school system. Suffering from severe attachment and trust issues, it was only in later life that he was able to reflect back and appreciate that childhood trauma played a huge part in this. 

He began working as a sports coach and then progressed to a teaching role focusing on Physical Education in a local school, a role where he loved understanding and supporting children through their struggles.

It was during this time that Brian saw a massive need within the school environment for children in care, who weren’t getting the support, attention and guidance they needed and were often getting lost in the system. He set up a business aimed at providing alternative provision and mentoring to children who needed it most.

Starting with a focus on children in care, he quickly evolved the business to include children with complex needs such as ASD, ADHD, Aspergers, and ODD. 

The process was simple, introduce the children to young adults who could mentor them, build trusting relationships and then engage them in activities such as sports, performing arts, boxing and life skills. The outcome? Hundreds of children with improved confidence, clear pathways and opportunities for the future. 

During his time mentoring young people, he has experienced transitions where placements break down due to poor relationships and trust with costs spiralling for local authorities. His main aim moving forward is to replicate the safe and trusting relationships he has fostered with children in his day to day business, and implement them in the social housing sector, whilst saving money for local authorities. 

“Ultimately, we’re going to change the face of social housing by placing children before profits, and offering more for less.”

Brian truly believes that every child deserves a champion. He was lucky enough to have incredible role models as parents and now wants to give as many young people as possible the best shot at life.

Amanda has worked within social care for over 20 years, gaining her skills and experience to work in the support sector through excellent training and extensive management development. 

Recently, she has been working as a Director of Care in a family owned and managed business, steering them to achieve sustained growth and development to their present status as one of the largest supported living services in Berkshire. 

She has been pivotal in making customers a priority, building strong and resilient staff teams and working alongside the management team to grow the business. 

In her personal life, Amanda is passionate about her home nation (Wales) and an avid rugby supporter, attending as many international games as she can at the Principality Stadium. She has six Grandchildren, citing that family is the most important thing in her life and you will also find her enjoying her newest passion, cruising! 

Her drive for working in Health & Social Care derives from a family member with learning difficulties. 

“I truly believe that every customer I work for deserve the best that life can offer them, with high performing staff and service delivery.”

Amanda believes services should be based on quality and not profit. Whilst every business needs to make a profit to grow and develop, at Project Home she will ensure the quality of the services we deliver are paramount to everything we do and this will never change. 

Mark has worked in young people services for over 30 years in varying roles starting as a
Youth Worker through to becoming a Regional Manager for a large Care & Support
Company.

During this time Mark has gained extensive experience of managing services that provide
accommodation and support to Care Leavers and Looked After Children in Bracknell, Slough,
Windsor and Maidenhead.

Mark loves coming to work because he believes young people have tremendous potential
and can overcome any obstacle that life throws at them, he also believes that a traumatic
upbringing does not determine a young person’s future and with the right care and support
in place young people can achieve amazing things.

Mark joined the team at Project Home because as a company, we aim to provide exceptional
care, support, and accommodation to enable every young person to flourish.

He is a dad to 3 girls, loves DIY and is a fanatical Liverpool FC armchair supporter!

Rich had a fantastic upbringing in a loving household with an amazing family. With that being said, he always felt like he stood out like a sore thumb from everyone else, often unable to explain his restless and often naughty behaviour. 

School was a real challenge for him. He tended to spend more time sat outside the classroom than in it, segregated from the other pupils and often cast aside by his teachers. There were phases of his childhood where his parents would have to visit school at the end of each day just to check in on his behaviour, puzzled as to why their seemingly normal son was acting out so much. 

“I struggled massively as a child, felt very misunderstood and it affected my whole life. If I can do something to shape a more positive pathway for children then I’m all in”

What no one knew at the time, was that Rich had ADHD and was struggling to cope with it. They were different times to where we find ourselves today. This has been a thorn in his side ever since, spurring bouts of heavy depression and anxiety. Something Rich now deals with on a daily basis. 

He jumped into property, working as an Estate Agent, where he excelled.

After 6 successful years he decided he needed a new challenge and jumped into role selling marketing strategy and services to clients.

He found a passion for creativity, which drove him on to several Head of Marketing jobs before something happened that changed his life. Bored during lockdown he decided he’d experiment and try a few things. It just so happened that one of those things was portrait painting, and he was good at it. Within a short few months, he had taught himself and people were reaching out to commission him. This grew so quickly that he made the decision to quit his job and take it more seriously. He’s never looked back. 

Rich now carves his time between his art and running a marketing consultancy where he works with challenger brands to help them find their purpose and do great things. 

He has a passion for doing good things for people who need it most, which is why he formed a special bond with his fellow Directors at Project Home. Having seen the face of social care in this country right now, Rich is confident Project Home will be the change local authorities need. 

“We’re putting children before profits. Changing the face of social care and doing things the right way”.

Pete draws inspiration from several aspects of his life but none more so than the incredible role his parents played in the local community. They worked at Church Hill Hospital with disabled and challenged children, fostering many of them and were heavily involved in several charity initiatives.

"My parents showed me the difference you can make in children’s lives”

Growing up with ADHD, in a time where it wasn’t really understood, proved a real challenge. He felt like an outcast at times, school was incredibly difficult and he received little in terms of guidance or understanding. It was these challenges that helped him to build the resilience to take on adult life and a determination to succeed. 

Following school, Pete went straight into employment, tackling various sales roles before finally landing in the property industry, where he never looked back. Throughout his 18 year journey it was not unusual for him to work 7 days a week and he rose from a trainee through to a Director and Shareholder. 

It was a freak accident that ultimately saved Pete’s life. While on holiday, he had an accident on a quad bike and during a consultation, the Doctor discovered a brain tumour. Following a critical operation and ongoing treatment, he was lucky enough to survive and tell the tale. This only spurred him on to do something amazing with his life and he set up a property investment company working with investors, mentoring, building his own developments and changing the face of the professional HMO market. 

The loss of his father in 2020 inspired him to continue his family’s love for helping people by providing children and young adults with equal opportunities in life through the support of a loving and caring home. 

“There is a huge opportunity here, for better accommodation, better homes, better facilities, better education and better care. Our shared goal is not to make profits, it is to make better lives.”