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Associate Trainers

Our workshops are designed and developed to incorporate a wide range of skills to empower the individuals who attend to make specific positive changes in their current life situations.  We are very fortunate to currently work with two Associate trainers who provide skills which complement and enhance the range of the workshops we provide.

 

Claire Keohone – Nutrition & Weight Management

Throughout her career Claire has provided personalised training to a diverse range of individuals, where an adaptable approach and a good understanding of individual learning styles is of paramount importance. Working in both public and statutory services, Claire has amassed over 20 years’ experience in all aspects of catering and hospitality.

Claire`s career has been spent working between the public and private sector, gaining knowledge in all different aspects of the food industry. During her career Claire has worked with children and young people in both residential and educational settings. This gave Claire a huge insight into healthy eating and how food made a big impact on our children’s life’s both at school and within their home life. Claire gained a greater understanding of the importance of a well-balanced diet and the need to educate not only our children but also the wider community.

Claire’s career in hospitality and catering also led her to develop a passion for nutrition, over the last couple of years, where she has developed community projects focussed on confidence building, wellbeing and hospitality, ensuring all policies, procedures and CookSafe documentation are in line with legal requirement.

Claire’s calm and nurturing approach offers an individualised learning style, providing a holistic approach to food, from inception to reality.

Claire’s commitment and attention to detail is second to none and has enabled her to develop further skills in nutrition and weight management which Claire combines to enhance group training and individual one to one support. This helps to empower individuals to make informed choices about how they fuel their bodies to ensure they are reaching their maximum potential health wise.

In her spare time Claire enjoys walking and spending time with her family.  She loves cooking, trying out her new recipes on her friends and family and is constantly striving to develop new skills to share with participants at Dynamic Diamond.

 

Sandra Thoms – Community & Personal Development

Sandra is an experienced trainer who has been responsible for designing and delivering bespoke training to a wide range of staff, parents, carers and external organisations including social work, education, universities and psychological services. These have included Autism and Fragile X training, both at awareness and specialist level.  She enjoys the challenge of tailoring sessions to suit the needs of the audience and is passionate about creating fun and relaxed sessions where individuals feel comfortable to engage and contribute.

Sandra is passionate about tailoring her approach, ensuring that she is communicating at a level and pace suitable to the people she is working with.  She continues to learn from the people she works with and has learnt how integral listening is as part of that process.   She often cites that her most valuable lesson came from working with an autistic man who told her, “the more you listen, the more you learn”.

Sandra’s experience spans over 30 years, and includes general nursing, as well as working with a range of individuals with sensory loss, autism, Fragile X syndrome, ADHD, learning disabilities and complex needs.    She has also developed several successful projects throughout Scotland from inception to completion and has specialising in autism and Fragile X syndrome.

With a keen interest and training in holistic therapies that was sparked in her early career working with a young man with sensory loss, she has developed this to compliment her professional work.  Understanding that creating an inclusive space for people is paramount to engagement and that a holistic approach can be complementary alongside clinical interventions.

Sandra’s philosophy is simple but powerful, she puts people at the centre of her work and is passionate about creating spaces that are inclusive and welcoming where individuals can develop and thrive.

Sandra is mum to grown up family and is gran to two gorgeous cats. She enjoys travel, cooking, walks on the beach and spending time with friends.