We are a charity that believes progression should not be determined by privilege. Working with students, teachers and partners across the country, our team supports young people to overcome barriers in accessing higher education, apprenticeships and early careers.


 
Sam.jpg

Sam Holmes

CEO

Sam leads on Causeway’s strategy, ensuring we find the most effective ways to support young people in overcoming barriers to higher education. This involves liaising with partners across the sector, as well as contributing to the design of our new programmes and resources.

Before co-founding Causeway, Sam worked as a secondary school teacher and coordinator for English as an additional language. His PhD research focused on monitoring of ethnic and linguistic diversity in schools, and he has designed education programmes and training for a number of education and cultural organisations. Sam has been working on Widening Participation initiatives ever since serving as Access Officer for his college as an undergraduate at Cambridge.


Katie.jpg

Katie Buckingham

Head of Programmes & Operations

Katie oversees the delivery of Causeway’s programmes for students, teachers and WP professionals and has overall responsibility for ensuring high-quality programme delivery. She is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Before joining Causeway, she worked in a variety of roles across the education sector, including as a Qualified History Teacher, a Project Manager at Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership and an Education Worker at IntoUniversity Brixton.


Clare.jpg

Clare Collins-Addy

Director of Partnerships

Clare leads on Causeway's multi-stakeholder partnerships. She is a key point of contact for new initiatives and relationships.

Prior to joining the team at Causeway, Clare held senior business development and campaign strategy positions in the Creative and Widening Participation sectors, specialising in youth focussed CSR and educational engagement with a keen focus on employability, well-being in education and access & success for those under-represented in Higher Education. Clare is also a massive nature and dog lover... and a champion for inclusion in triathlon!


Steve.jpg

Steve Rowling

Head of Technical Development

Steve created and manages the on-going development of OSCAR, Causeway’s online platform, which is used across all of our programmes and by state-funded schools across the UK. He works closely with the rest of the team to continually improve and extend the functionality provided by OSCAR.

Steve is an experienced web developer and has been working with a wide variety of businesses since the early days of the World Wide Web. He has an MEng in Electronic Systems Engineering from Aston University and a Diploma in Computing from the Open University.


Aron Rouse

Senior Programme Manager

Aron oversees the delivery of the student facing programmes at Causeway. He is the main point of contact for our freelance mentoring team and also delivers workshops for smaller projects.

Before joining Causeway, Aron was involved in the delivery of the NCS programme in London, coordinating support for disadvantaged individuals in the process. His decision to move into the charity sector was influenced by prior experiences coordinating sports provision in schools across London. He is motivated to help ensure that outcomes aren’t determined by circumstance.


Chloe Parrish

Programme Manager

Chloe supports the delivery of projects across the Programmes team, with a particular focus on overseeing our work helping young people access higher education pathways.

Before joining Causeway, Chloe worked in widening participation for the NHS. Here, Chloe managed and delivered programmes of IAG to young people, university students and adults in the community. Prior to this, Chloe worked in safeguarding for a local authority, ensuring the voices of young people were heard in policy and decision-making. Having had access to widening participation initiatives as a young person, Chloe has a passion for working with others to create the same opportunities.


Hannah Hawthorne

Education Project Manager

Hannah designs and delivers Causeway’s training for students, undergraduate ambassadors, teachers, outreach professionals and employers, alongside other members of the Programmes Team. 

Hannah has over 11 years’ experience in education, as an English teacher, curriculum manager and specialist leader in education (SLE). She also spent a further two years working as a learning designer for a national e-learning provider. Here, she worked with charities and sector specialists to design and create compliance training for education professionals. She also authored a range of articles to aid teachers’ professional development.  


Claire Rodin

Schools and Colleges Improvement Lead

Claire leads on Causeway’s work to support improvement in state schools and colleges. She oversees work that aims to improve outcomes and share best practice. 

Claire has worked in schools for over 12 years and has held roles in pastoral and curriculum. Currently a senior leader and Head of Sixth Form, she is experienced in supporting students and staff with university and apprenticeship applications.

*Claire is on maternity leave from January 2024


Matt Griffin

Programme Manager

Matt manages our Application Mentoring programme, which provides support across the UCAS cycle to hundreds of students every year. He also takes a leading role in developing our OSCAR applications platform.

Having taken part in various Widening Participation initiatives as a university applicant, Matt knows first hand their value in supporting students facing barriers to HE. Before joining Causeway, he worked in a variety of roles across the education sector, including as a teacher and Widening Participation ambassador at UCL and QMUL. He completed a PhD in History at UCL in 2019.


Robyn Cummings

Programmes Officer

Robyn supports the delivery and administration of Causeway’s programmes. She also supports with operations across Causeway. 

Robyn joins the team with a background working in member engagement, school liaison and programme coordination in education and charities. She is experienced in coordinating employability programmes for young people, and her own experiences drive her passion for equity in education and access to widening participation opportunities.  


Lashaun.jpg

Lashaun Greenaway

Programmes Assistant

Lashaun is one of the youngest members of Causeway Education, working part-time to support the Programmes Team.

With skills learnt from her previous job roles, she is looking to help Causeway relate more to young students and improve our services for the students we work with. With a passion to teach young people skills that aren’t necessarily taught in schools, she is also learning more about presenting workshops and mentoring to do just that!

*Lashaun is on maternity leave from July 2023


Sabrina Ali

Programmes Assistant

Sabrina provides administrative support across Causeway’s programmes.

Before joining Causeway, Sabrina tutored and saw the impact she could create on students/individuals lives through education. She hopes to gain skills of presenting in front of a large audience, organising events/workshops. She believes her lived experiences will elevate her understanding and enable her to connect with the services we offer in different ways.


Resh.png

Reshma Tanna

Finance Assistant

Reshma is the part time finance assistant who ensures the smooth day to day running of the finance function, liaising closely with the CEO and Programme Managers.

Reshma studied Pharmaceutical Science and worked in the healthcare sector for 5 years prior to moving into the accountancy field. Her aspirations to want to help others and make a difference drew her towards the charity sector from which she has never looked back. She strongly believes that every student deserves a fair chance to reach their full potential and is extremely grateful to be working for such a good cause and team.