Meet Our Team
We are a team of parents and healthcare professionals dedicated to supporting young people’s mental health and young people with first-hand experience of overcoming mental health challenges.
Joel Sutton
CEO & Designated Safeguarding Lead
Joel is a proud father of three, and the co-founder of The Youth Mental Health Foundation. He is committed to advocating for young people’s mental health and raising neurodiverse children, especially from a father’s perspective.
In addition to overseeing the foundation’s daily operations, Joel co-delivers our Power2Parent programme. He leads the ‘What’s Your Genius’ workshop programme in schools, working alongside his daughter Jade to inspire children to realise their natural potential. His Christian faith guides his dedication to supporting others.
Claire Sutton
Content Development
Claire is a mother of three children, two of whom are neurodiverse and co-founder of the Youth Mental Health Foundation. Claire’s story of supporting her eldest daughter, Jade, throughout her recovery from anxiety, depression, self-harm, and an eating disorder has touched the hearts and minds of many parents across the world. Her deep personal experience was the original inspiration behind the methodology now used throughout all of our programs and courses.
Claire continues to be instrumental in creating, developing, and delivering the vast majority of our courses and programmes, playing a central role in the foundation’s mission to help families navigate mental health challenges. Her Christian faith motivates all her efforts, enabling and driving her to support other families who are struggling, just as she once did.
Marie-Lou
OASIS & Project Manager
Marie-Lou is a single mother of three with first-hand experience of parenting through trauma, successfully guiding her two older children through school despite their challenging SEN needs.
For the last 30 years, she has worked with children, teens, and adults with learning disabilities. At the YMCA, she helped establish an alternative education department for at-risk youth and teenage mothers. Marie-Lou is passionate about outdoor learning and combines this with her love for horses to support troubled young people through farm-based equine-assisted learning.
As a Christian, she believes everyone has God-given talents and is dedicated to helping young people unlock theirs, enabling them to step into the world with confidence and let their talents shine.
Calvin Malcolm
Lead Psychotherapist
Calvin is a Systemic Family Psychotherapist with over twenty-two years of experience in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services within the UK’s NHS. He has a vast knowledge of child & adolescent mental health difficulties and the impact this has on the young person, their family, and the wider system, including their schooling.
He currently teaches on the Foundation Course to Family Therapy at Plymouth University, supervises trainee Systemic Practitioners on the CYP IAPT Course at the University of Exeter and held an honorary tutor post in the teaching of Systemic Family Therapy on the Post Grad Doctorate Clinical Psychology Course at Leicester University.
Calvin has trained many family therapists to become qualified family therapists and as a qualified Systemic Family Therapy Supervisor has supervised many others.
Debbie Dugdall
Volunteer
Debbie is the founder and CEO of Breakthrough Transformational Trust. She leads the charity, which has a Christian ethos, to support children, young people, and families facing significant life challenges. The organization focuses on rehabilitating individuals who have experienced trauma, mental illness, cognitive neuropsychological issues, or complex communication needs. Their goal is to foster resilience, promote success, and empower individuals to live independently and contribute positively to the community.
Dr Lynn Suter
Clinical Director
BA (Hons.) BSc. (Hons), MSc, DPsych, CPsychol (Chartered Psychologist) and AFBPsS (Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society)
Dr Lynn Suter originally trained as an occupational psychologist, specialising latterly in learning and development. She then retrained and achieved her Doctorate in Psychotherapy and practiced as a counselling psychologist. She has worked in the NHS, in both primary and secondary care. In addition she has worked as Clinical Director of a 3rd sector counselling agency and in counselling for students.
Jade Sutton
Youth Lead
Jade is a founding member of Youth Mental Health Foundation. Her journey from self-harm, depression and anxiety to a life dedicated to inspiring other young people has been a beacon of hope for many parents, teachers and young people .
Since the age of 11, Jade has delivered her ‘Reach For The Stars’ assembly and ‘What’s Your Genius’ workshop at over 200 schools, speaking to over 50,000 young people. In 2022 she won the BBC’s ‘Make A Difference Award’ and has been interviewed several times on national TV and radio. In 2018, she was shortlisted for a National Diversity Award as a ‘Positive Role Model For Young People.’
Jade is now 20 years old and studying at university. She is dedicated to destigmatising youth mental health and encouraging other young people with her recovery story.
Rebecca Garrard
Design
Rebecca is an artist with a BA (Hons.) in Philosophy. She is dedicated to using her lived experience of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety to help increase awareness and empathy for those living with mental health issues.
Rebecca works alongside the team to edit and develop content for the Youth Mental Health Foundation. By developing online resources, she aims to provide young people and parents with the knowledge, support, and guidance they need to navigate through the process of self-awareness and recovery.
Natalie Dugdall
Workshop Leader
Natalie delivers our ‘What’s Your Genius’ workshops at primary schools and youth clubs in Devon, Cornwall and Summerset.
Alongside her work at YMHF, she is a Family Support Worker at two primary schools in Devon, UK and leads a children’s wellbeing group.
She has previously worked as a Health Support Worker delivering training courses, organising health campaigns and working with women, young people and vulnerable families in Torbay, UK.
She has been a Family Support Worker at an alternative provision school, supporting families with neurodiverse children excluded from mainstream schooling.
Chester Durana
Operations Coordinator & Virtual Assistant
Chester (known as Ching) has wide experience in management and administration. She supports the YMHF’s Leadership team and is grateful for the opportunity to serve young people who are struggling with their mental health.