Meet The Team

LYNNE NICHOLS

TRUSTEE

SUE SANDERS

CO-CHAIR

Sue Sanders is co-chair of charity Schools OUT UK. LGBT+ History Month was co founded by her and Paul Patrick  in 2004.
She trained as a drama teacher and has taught in schools and universities in the UK and Australia.
Sue has been the recipient of many awards over the years, In February 2015 she received an Emeritus Professorship from the Harvey Milk School, and in 2019 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement awards from the Rainbow Honours Board.

BETH STANLEY

WEB DEVELOPER

Beth designed and developed the LGBT+ History Month website. She is responsible for keeping the LGBT+ HM, The Classroom, and Schools OUT websites up to date and running.
She is a Learning Technology professional, and works for a university In her day job.

ADAM LOWE

POET LAUREATE

Adam Lowe (he/him, mostly) is a writer, performer, publisher and lecturer from Leeds, currently living in Manchester. His work explores the intersections of Blackness, queerness and disability. He founded and is co-director of Young Enigma, a professional development programme for young and emerging writers, and supports artists of colour in Greater Manchester through the Slate initiative, founded by Eclipse Theatre and housed by HOMEmcr. He also sometimes performs as his alter ego, Beyonce Holes.

ANDREW DOBBIN

SOCIAL MEDIA

Andrew is responsible for our LGBT+ History Month social media accounts and produces resources for LGBT+ History Month.
Like most of the committee, he was a teacher, putting in thirteen years at the chalk-face.
In that time like all of the committee, he witnessed and received homophobia in varying degrees of nastiness. That was also how he learned his favourite word ‘verisimilitude’.

KATE HUTCHINSON

TRANS AND NON-BINARY OFFICER

Kate Hutchinson is the regional coordinator for LGBT+ anti bullying charity Diversity Role Models as well as working as a Youth Support Worker for Viva LGBT+ in North Wales. She has written guidance for national teaching unions on trans inclusion within schools, and works with a number of LGBT+ and youth charities.
Kate was recently included in the 2019 Pinc List which lists influential LGBT+ voices within Wales.

ABTIN

Abtin joined School’s Out in 2020 to help students feel supported, visible and represented. He is now an Anaesthetist working for the NHS in London and has been using his position to advise NHS Trusts and other health organisations about LGBT+ issues using his own knowledge and experience in healthcare. When he’s not in his scrubs, you might find him singing Jazz standards and Pop divas by the piano.

SARAH COSGRIFF

PROJECT WORKER

Sarah Cosgriff is a science communicator from Swindon. Her role involves supporting Schools OUT UK to deliver their activities. She also develops resources aimed at visibilising and usualising LGBT+ people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) classrooms and supporting educators to do this.
If you are a STEM educator who has an idea for a resource, she would love to hear from you! 

MAISIE BARKER

REGIONAL OFFICER

Maisie is Communications Co-ordinator for Schools OUT UK, a job title she made up herself. Her duties include running social media accounts, producing press releases and anything technology related that scares the other members of the committee. Aside from that, she is a freelance writer based in Manchester and can often be found on Canal Street.

SETH ATKIN

Job Position

Seth Atkin has been with Schools OUT UK for a long time. He is a lecturer in Birmingham and is active in the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) where he also plays an international role.  He organised and realised the TUC/Schools OUT UK LGBT timeline

NIC

TONY FENWICK MBE 1960-2020

FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Tony Fenwick, who we lost to cancer in July 2020, joined Schools OUT in 1995.
Tony taught English in schools and was a peripatetic teacher for sick and needy children for most of his life. Tony was a very active member of many teachers unions over the years, including: the National Education Union, (NEU), Eastern Region NOF and the NEU Equalities Officer Luton Division. He was a representative of his district at the NEU conference for many years. His contributions to the unions were much celebrated.
Tony became the CEO of Schools OUT UK after the death of History Month co-founder Paul Patrick in 2008.
Tony was awarded an MBE at the request of the Department for Education for services to equality in education in 2016. 
Tony said, “I am delighted and honoured to receive an MBE but I regard it as an award for all of us at Schools OUT UK who work as volunteers and give up our valuable time to make things happen.
“I have accepted the MBE as an acknowledgement that our work in education is being valued and that our work for schools is making an impact. But I also hope to use the gong to lobby parliament to encourage the nations of the Commonwealth to get rid of the Empire’s outdated legislation and legalise same sex relations throughout their lands.”

STEVE BOYCE

FORMER COMMITTEE

Steve Boyce, who stepped down as Chair of Trustees in October 2020, has been involved since the early days. Steve qualified as a teacher in 1989 from the University of Leicester and worked for many years in inner city Primary schools; becoming a very successful Head Teacher. He was a member of the NUT for over 25 years; he served on the NUT LGBT Advisory Committee. He is a committed activist for LGBT and equality issues. He lives with his partner John in Norfolk, they enjoy their large family with many grandchildren.
Steve is now enjoying an active retirement and is Branch Secretary to his local retired members branch and assists young people as an appropriate adult at police interviews, as well as training and talking about equalities and LGBT+.

PAUL PATRICK

CO-FOUNDER