Dr Shirley Woods-Gallagher

Shirley is the Executive Director for Health, Care and Transitions for New Bridge Multi Academy Trust in Greater Manchester.  New Bridge has over 1500 students with a range of disabilities including lived experiences of learning disability, Autism, ADHD, social communication, developmental delay and social and emotional mental health needs.  She leads on providing quality assurance around health offers in New Bridge, working in collaboration with health partners and placing local authorities.

She is a member of the Greater Manchester Special Schools SEND health workstreams, which creates audit tools and shares best practice.  As a group, they are trying to influence strategic change locally within the context of devolution.

Shirley was twice nominated for the ITV National Diversity Awards in 2023 in the categories of Positive Role Model Award For Age and Positive Role Model Award for Disability.

She is a Member of the Advisory Panel for Children’s Viewing for the British Board of Film Classification. 

She is also a Trustee for the charity Respect For All, who provide counselling to people who are either autistic and/or have a learning disability in Greater Manchester.

Finally, she is also an advisor for Invest in Play whose mission is to support children and their caregivers with practical and compassionate strategies for neurodiverse communities around the globe.